The Fog of War
by Newage
Summary: Gohan's insecurities send him into the Narutoverse, powerless and human. He'll be thrust into the conflicts of the Shinobi world, where love, loneliness, and death reign supreme. Story occurs in each universe's respective timeskip. Gohan/Ino pairing
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I implore you all to give me suggestions about improving my writing. I can't improve if I don't know what's not working for the readers, thank you!

Chapter 1: A Window In Motion

The sheets were still moist with the salty sweat of Gohan's nightmare. Half an hour had passed. The images that had at one point in the night burned into his subconscious like a voracious wildfire were now reduced to a splattering of colors. He noticed the crack in the ceiling had gotten large and fuzzy like an old tennis ball.

A whisper came from the window. Gohan sat up slowly. A soft breeze blew into the room and for a moment relieved it of its stale atmosphere. He walked over to the window and peered out. There was no one. The whisper had come from the trees and the wind, from the rustling leaves and the nocturnal animals of the forest. The whisper had come to him from a memory. It was like he was back there again.

"No Dad, don't do it!"

Goku smiled. He didn't turn back to his son.

"You were great Gohan, now it's my turn," he said.

"Dad, it's my fault, if only I had listened to you and killed Cell when I..."

"Gohan, it's ok. You are much braver than I ever was at your age."

The blinding flash from his father's technique was the marker of Gohan's eternal failure. For four years it haunted his sleep. Normal people closed their eyes from the brightness of the world, but for him it meant seeing the light that ended his father's life. He took away that heartwarming smile from his mother, from his younger brother, and from the world that needed it the most.

Gohan walked back to his unkempt bed and reached underneath it. After a moment of shuffling around with his hand, he brought out a wooden box the size of a pillow and placed it on the mattress. A golden glow emanated from the gaps. He would do it tonight.

Without allowing another second to pass, he walked back to the window and launched himself into the air. The stars glazed the world below him in a haunting glow. Trees, hills, houses, and roads passed underneath Gohan as he flew towards the area he would summon the great dragon.

"There," he whispered.

Gohan had flown for barely an hour, yet had covered nearly a thousand miles to reach his destination.

The area was covered by a layer of impenetrable darkness. Boulders the size of skyscrapers lay in every direction like toppled dominoes. Green vegetation had returned to the area after four years, covering much of the damage caused by the battle, though no amount of greenery could ever hide the massive scar left behind by Cell.

Gohan landed on one of the building-sized boulders. The stars were still glistening in the sky, spurning him with winks. He took out the seven golden orbs and placed them side by side in a hexagonal pattern. The dragonballs glowed like before, but now they emitted a humming that reverberated not only in his physical ears, but deep within his spiritual psyche.

"Shenron, I summon you!" Gohan screamed.

A blistering bolt of golden lightning erupted from the collection of dragonballs. Gohan held his ground as the air around him crackled with ancient power and blackness overtook the starlit sky. The green aura of the great dragon Shenron became the only source of light in the otherwise darkened world.

"Speak," Shenron ordered.

"Shenron, do you see this great scar in the world?" Gohan asked, pointing to the valley.

"What of it?" Shenron responded.

"It is here that I fought the monster Cell. In my wicked arrogance I allowed him to wound the world with its evil. I allowed him to kill my father," Gohan explained.

"What does this have to do with my summoning? Give me your wish or allow me to return to my slumber," it said.

"I am not strong enough to control this power, the power that could obliterate everything I love. The power that could elevate my ego so much that it caused my own father to sacrifice his life to save the world, to save me, from my own screw up. I'm weak," Gohan said. Tears trickled down his cheeks. He clenched his fists and punched the ground as even now his weakness showed. The boulder cracked.

"I need no explanation of your intent, I only require your wish, mortal," the dragon beckoned, clearly annoyed.

"I want you to take away the power that caused this," Gohan said, "I wish for you to remove it from me!"

The great dragon Shenron mused over Gohan's odd request. It would be no stretch of the truth to say that most people who summoned him asked for great power, not to take it _away._

"Your power is not ordinary. If I remove that power, it has to go somewhere. If left unchecked, it will do a thousand times more damage than what caused that canyon," Shenron revealed.

"Fine," Gohan responded, "then I ask for my wishes to be successive. Take this power from me, and then when it is ripped from my body, send it away from this Universe."

"It shall be done."

A flash of light erupted from the dragon's eyes and Gohan's entire body was lit on fire. A golden fog spewed out of his every orifice and condensed. He gagged and fell to his knees as the last of the fog exited his throat. He looked up and gaped. A massive, shapeless cloud of electric mist or aura floated just above him, threatening to overtake the entire area. At first it seemed like an inanimate entity, but Gohan began to feel a malicious consciousness from it. It wanted to hurt him.

The golden aura began to stir. Another flash of light from Shenron's eyes went off and suddenly a great black nothingness appeared next to the fog. Gohan gazed at it for a moment. Shenron had summoned some kind of portal, a tear in the spacetime continuum of their universe.

The portal whistled like a dangerously overloaded teapot. Gohan looked at the fog and for a moment thought it was afraid, but clearly there was no way a lifeless aura of energy could express such human emotion.

A moment passed between Gohan's thoughts when suddenly a dozen arms punched through the portal and grabbed onto the fog. Gohan could not have mistaken it this time. The fog had screamed.

Multiple hands emerged from the lengths of each arm, producing hundreds of hands that grasped and clawed onto the fog. The fog fought back viciously, letting loose its own variation of limbs and clutched onto any solid object it could. A long tentacle-like extension shot at Gohan like an arrow. Horrified, he sprang into the air. He was two feet above the boulder when he felt the full force of gravity stop him. The wish was granted. Gohan was unable to fly.

The fog's tentacle wrapped around Gohan's leg and pulled him towards it. He watched in horror as the fog itself was wrapped in countless hands, halfway into the black portal. _It's going to take me with it._ Gohan thought.

"No way!" Gohan screamed as he braced himself.

With his hand extended, Gohan unleashed a massive amount of energy from his core and directed all of its vicious power at the bizarre creatures. Nothing emerged. There was no more power left in him, having been taken all away by his own wish.

Golden dust soon enveloped Gohan's senses, suffocating him and burning his skin. Then, complete darkness._

The rain was heavy on Gohan's face. He tried opening his eyes, but they felt glued together. His body was cold and numb. His hands compulsively grabbed at anything they could, but found only hard lumps of clay dirt and grass.

Rain washed into his eyes and opened them for him, as if the Universe had taken pity. The sky burned into Gohan's retinas and he wished they were closed again. The gray clouds acted like a magnifying glass, amplifying the Sun's brightness tenfold.

"Hey, are you ok? Hey?"

The voice echoed in Gohan's skull like a rusty chainsaw. He lifted his head and turned towards the voice. Crouching inches from him was a girl who looked no more than ten years old.

"Lovely," Gohan responded.

He bent his arms and lifted himself up. It was harder than he thought. Not only did every muscle in his body ache with unknown injuries, but the mud's suction strength threaten to keep him down forever.

"Here, let me help," the girl said.

She grabbed Gohan's hand and pulled his body towards her. He sat upright and rotated his shoulders as if he were restarting the cogs of an old, unused clock.

"Thank you," Gohan said. She smiled.

"How'd you end all the way up here, and in the rain?" the girl asked.

She placed her hand over her eyes and scanned the area, as if she'd find Gohan's origin.

"Uh, I fell off a cliff I think," Gohan said. The strength in his muscles began to return.

"Oh, poor you. I'll take you to the village," she said.

Gohan thought for a moment. He hadn't remembered a village near the Cell Games' area.

"Thank you, but I think I'll just head to the city and find my way home," he said.

"Oh no, you can't travel the roads!" the girl responded. Her voice was full of concern and, perhaps, a hint of fear.

"It's ok," Gohan said.

He smiled at her. She had a childish face with brown eyes and red hair. Her clothes, however, were tattered and seemingly medieval.

"No, I'm serious!" she replied, her voice now stern, "the roads are crawling with Goro's bandits!"

Gohan stood up. His legs felt a bit wobbly, but otherwise fine. He stretched his arms high into the air and yawned.

"I'm not worried about bandits," he said reassuringly, "I'm Gohan, by the way."

"Well, um, nice to meet you then, Gohan. I'm–"

"Izumi!"

An old woman came hustling from a nearby bush and descended on them like a raging moose.

"What in the world are you –" she started.

The old woman caught sight of Gohan, who was still in mid-stretch. He gave her a silly grin.

"Izumi! Come here now!" the old woman screamed.

She grabbed a massive knife from her waist and charged at Gohan. He jumped back to avoid the rusty blade from plunging into his stomach. His body smacked into a slimy, hard surface. Gohan reeled in pain and slide down the tree he unknowingly backed into.

"Grandma!" Izumi yelled.

"Izumi! Come here now!" the old woman commanded.

"Ouch," Gohan moaned. The pain throbbed intensely in his back.

"Grandma! I found this boy on the ground! He was probably hurt by the bandits," Izumi said.

"Think, girl! He probably _is_ a bandit," her grandmother said.

Gohan stood back up. The tree hurt more than it should have. Normally he would have torn through a tree like paper. That must have meant, then, that the wished worked. Was his powers really gone?

He lifted his hand up towards the sky. Izumi and her grandmother watched in cautious curiosity as Gohan tightened his arm and screamed. A look of utter terror crossed the grandmother's face as Gohan continued to scream into the sky like a crazy hermit. Nothing happened at all.

"Hah!" he laughed.

Gohan dropped his arm and looked over at his audience. The grandmother and girl were both staring at him as if he had just kicked a baby squirrel.

"Don't worry, I'm not a bandit," he said quickly, wondering as to how odd he must have looked a second ago. "I can't hurt you, I'm completely powerless."

Izumi and her grandmother were utterly confused at Gohan's genuine grin. After a few more seconds of awkwardness, the grandmother took Izumi's hand and started to walk away.

"Grandma!" Izumi pleaded.

"Quiet, girl. When we get back I'm going to make you clean all the pig pens!" the grandmother said.

Gohan waved anxiously at them. When the two were finally out of sight he began searching his surroundings. He looked above the treeline and saw steep cliffs overhanging the forest.

"Wow, I must have fallen from there," Gohan said. "Funny, this place looks completely different at night."

A scream exploded throughout the forest, temporarily shocking Gohan into a defensive position. The scream came from the direction Izumi and her grandmother walked off to. Instinctively Gohan rushed to the source of the terrible sound.

He blazed a trail through thick brush and naked tree branches, getting scratched up like a wolf's fresh kill.

"Worthless, just a kid and an old lady, and I thought we hit the jackpot."

Gohan watched from a distance as a rugged man dropped someone to the ground. The person was lifeless, and he could make out what looked like a deep gash on her head. It was the grandmother from before.

A group of men, all armed with swords, stood around the grandmother's body. A man near the one who had just dropped her held a girl by the arm. It was Izumi.

"Damn, guess we'll have to go through the trouble of finding some _real_ women in the village," the man said.

"What am I going to do with this one?" the other asked.

"Kill her. She's worthless, and I doubt any of us want to screw a little kid, right?"

The group of men laughed.

"Hey!" Gohan screamed.

Immediately the men turned towards Gohan, drawing their swords. Gohan continued to run, determining in his mind as quickly as a supercomputer his plan of attack. He prepared to lunge into the nearest man when a rapid rustling of leaves from above him caught his attention.

A streak of shadowy blurs shot past the trees and into the group of men. Gohan stopped. He looked at the swordsmen. They were all pierced with several black knives and star-shaped projectiles. Blood dripped from them like sweat.

"Who–" said the man who had killed the grandmother.

"A _real_ woman has appeared! What are all you _tough_ men going to do about it?"

Gohan dived into a bush and hid. He looked up towards the tree tops and saw a trio of individuals standing on a high branch. They were only teens, all of whom couldn't have been older than him.

"Bastard shinobi–" the man said.

He dropped his sword and collapsed. The other men followed suit, falling onto the unforgiven forest floor.

"You sure have a way with men, Ino."

"Shut up Chouji!"


	2. Chapt 2: Misunderstandings and Conflict

Chapter 2: Misunderstandings and Conflict

"Grandma!" screamed Izumi as she ran towards her grandmother.

Gohan desperately fought an inner battle. The call of the child beckoned him, but the battle experience he gained over the years prevented him from moving. Unsure of the newcomers' intentions, he decided finally to simply wait and listen.

"Senseless pain, it will never end," the middle person said.

"It is a shame, isn't it, Shikamaru?" asked the one called Chouji.

"Let's go down and help the poor kid," said the only female of the group.

"Wait," Shikamaru said.

The other two stopped. Gohan slowed his breathing and retreated further into the bush. Chouji and Ino stared at Shikamaru, waiting.

"There's one more."

Instantly Gohan felt a helplessness come over him, as if his entire body revolted against his will. He stood up slowly and walked out of his hiding spot. _What the hell?_ He thought.

"There," Shikamaru said, pointing down at Gohan.

Gohan's body continued to walk on its own until he reached the middle of the clearing, right in the path of the group's vision.

"Incredible, Shikamaru! You're able to use Kagemane no Jutsu without moving your own body now?" Chouji asked with respect.

"Yeah, but it's bothersome. It takes a massive amount of willpower and mental effort. Such a pain," Shikamaru said.

_So that guy is controlling my body._ Gohan thought. He looked at each of them, and felt the control of his eyes was at the very least a consolation prize. The one called Chouji was a big, meaty individual with wild, animal-like hair. Shikamaru, the apparent leader, was a thin person who had his hair tied up and seemed utterly indifferent.

Gohan turned his gaze to the female of the group, the one named Ino. She had fine blonde hair and a pretty face. Her body looked as if it were still developing, but seemed close to womanhood. They were all clean and unharmed, as opposed to his ragged, torn up self.

"Stop looking at me you pervert!" Ino shouted at him.

Gohan snapped out of his analysis. Her face was red and she had instinctively covered herself with her arms.

"These guys were looking for a _good time_," Chouji said, inferring at Ino, "and you are a _real_ woman, after all."

A disgusted look came over her face.

"This guy makes me sick, treating women like meat for his sexual appetite," she said, spitting at Gohan.

"Don't flatter yourself, girl," Gohan responded, a rebellious smirk on his face, "I'll choose being a vegetarian over _your_ meat any day."

Ino's face turned blood red.

"What did you sa –"

"Grandma!" Izumi interrupted, crying over her dead grandmother's body.

Ino stopped in mid sentence. Her face softened and Gohan noticed a slight sadness overcome her eyes. Everyone returned to the reality of the situation.

"Enough, Ino. We'll take this bandit with us to the village," Shikamaru said, his voice returning to an authoritative tone. "Chouji, get the little girl and the old woman."

"Yeah," Chouji answered, his voice grimmer.

"I'm not a bandit! I'm from the Mount Paozu area. I don't even know where I am," Gohan said.

Shikamaru stared at him for a moment. It looked liked to Gohan as if he were having some kind of stressful headache from over-thinking.

"There's no mountain that exists named Paozu," Shikmaru finally said.

"No mountain named Paozu?" Gohan reiterated, "Are you lying or just ignora–"

Fresh images of the night before rushed into Gohan's mind like a flash flood. He remembered the golden, malevolent manifestation of his power. Inside his head he could see the black portal, the army of hands. A wet, suffocating feeling came over him, as if he were getting pulled back into that blackness. Where had it taken him?

"Where am I?" Gohan asked suddenly.

Chouji had gathered the grandmother's body into his arms. Izumi was sobbing quietly. Ino was standing next to Chouji, trying fruitlessly to console the distraught girl.

She looked up and, with as much disdain as she could muster, addressed Gohan.

"You know well enough where you are, murderer," she said.

Gohan turned his gaze towards Ino, who was slowly walking towards him.

"Oh, are you looking for mercy, even though you just ruthlessly killed an old woman and were about to kill this girl?"

A hatred for Gohan, spawned by empathy for the child, ravaged Ino's spirit. She pulled out a black knife, the same kind that had ended the lives of those other men minutes ago, and came closer to him.

"Enough, Ino. We need to interrogate him," Shikamaru ordered.

Ino stopped. She looked at Gohan and mustered as much disgust as she could in her expression for him.

"If you truly don't know where you're at," Shikamaru said, "then I'll tell you. You're in a forest surrounding Saito village, which is near the border of the Fire Country and River Country."

Gohan had never heard of these places. In fact, he was _sure_ none of these places existed on Earth. A panic was born in his heart. It was a miniscule seed of worry, but quickly spread its roots and turned into an all out invasion of his mind.

"No, no, this can't be! Where am I? Where am I?" Gohan screamed.

The fear was beginning to consume him. The forest was becoming blurred and his voice distant. He tried breaking free of the spell that bound him, but the more he struggled the more he felt like his muscles were going to tear themselves apart. Then, a dull pain, and darkness.

"What is wrong with this guy?" Chouji wondered as he recoiled his arm from Gohan's neck.

Shikamaru sighed and released his jutsu. His shadow retreated back to him like a rewinding riverflow. He stared at Gohan, who was getting lifted into Chouji's spare arm. Ino had taken Izumi and held her tight. She looked at Gohan and, for a moment, felt pity for him. That feeling quickly fled however when she felt the tug of the little girl in her arms.

"Bastard," she said to Gohan.

Shikmaru could almost sense Ino reaching for her kunai.

"Let's get back to the village," he ordered. "We don't know how many more there are out there and we need to complete this mission as quickly as we can. He might be the one."_

A lone torch flickered in the darkness. The massive overhanging cave echoed with the footsteps of men, creatures, and spirits alike. A single man stood silently in the only glimmer of light. His arms shook slightly as sweat beaded down his skin like fleeing ants.

"Say that again," said a deep voice from beyond the darkness.

"Si..xth patrol has been wiped out. We recovered their bodies in..n the forest, near the village," the man replied.

The torch flickered. Two men emerged from the shadow like sharks from the deep.

"Oh? Show us the weapons you found," asked one of the men.

The terrified underlying reached into his pouch and fumbled through the contents. After a few seconds he took out what looked to be a blood-stained knife.

"Kunai... shinobi," said the other man.

"How could the village afford shinobi?" asked the other.

"Take care of it, Sakana. Kame," said the man still hidden in the dark._

Gohan choked and gagged until his body forced out all the water that had entered his throat. His hair and face were drenched and pierced by the freezing droplets.

"Wake up," came a man's voice.

He wriggled his head, shaking away as much water from his eyes and ears as possible.

"Yeah, what?"

Gohan was bound by rope and sat in a dark shack. Light came from the half open door and a man stood between him and the outside world. Gohan looked up at the man. He had a young face, but the seasons hadn't been kind to his hairline and wrinkles were visible at the edges of his eyes.

"Even when you're tied up like that, you people look at us like we're scum!"

The man clenched his fist and smashed it into Gohan's jaw. Gohan fell to the side from the force of the punch, but there was no jolt of pain or dull, dizzying sensation that came after. A scream shattered the stale air. The man was holding his hand and had fallen to the ground. Apparently the lifetime of fighting and training had toughen Gohan's body into raw iron.

"That's enough of that."

Shikamaru peered over at Gohan, his face contorted in thought. He stood in the door with his arms crossed and his back to the Sun. It was most likely midday.

"Go," Shikamaru said, "and like we planned, you are not to tell anyone in the village about him or us, or else we'll come back for our gold."

"Of course," the man replied.

The man picked himself up, still holding his limp hand, and exited the shack.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm _not_ a bandit," Gohan restated.

"Ino," Shikamaru said.

Gohan watched as Ino appeared from outside. The sunlight bathed her in a warm glow, brightening her hair and skin to an almost blinding intensity. He felt an odd feeling come over him, like a Spring shower had washed over his parched, sun baked body. Her eyes shimmered like the clear blue water of a tropical sea, but her expression remained staunch and hardened. The glow disappeared. Gohan could now distinguish the soldier uniform she wore covered with dark, sharp weapons. Those weapons were made to kill. Under the green fabric of her uniform lay dull gray chains welded together. Mail armor appeared to cover her entire upper body. There was no mistaking it, she was a soldier.

"I still say we should do this when we get back," Ino said. She crossed her arms and glared at Shikamaru. He sighed.

"We do it here, we can't risk having the wrong guy," he replied.

"But I _am_ the wrong guy! I'm not from here! I'm not a bandit," Gohan said.

The two captors ignored him, still staring at each other.

"Fine," Ino said after a minute of silence, "you're the leader."

She walked in front of Shikamaru, who held out his arms in anticipation of something. Ino closed her eyes and inhaled slowly.

"Don't ignore me!" Gohan yelled.

He tried breaking the ropes tied around him, but his power was no match for the tensile strength of the braided twine.

"Listen to me–"

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Ino fell into Shikamaru's arms. He braced himself and managed to hold up the dead weight.

"Are you in?" he asked.

Gohan stood up, his arms still bound by the ropes. He whipped his hair back and sighed.

"I hate being in male bodies, always so dirty and sweaty," Ino said.

She stretched Gohan's neck like a giraffe and leaned on the wall behind her.

"You know what you have to do," Shikamaru said.

Ino, who was now inside of Gohan, nodded.

"Right, but it's going to be hard without the right equipment," she responded.

"It's ok we don't need his life history, just the past week," he said.

Ino closed Gohan's eyes. His body went limp, propped up by the wall. Shikamaru gently took Ino's body and leaned it on a different wall. He stood back up and watched Gohan's still body. It was as if he could see the internal struggle going on in there.

Ino walked through the seemingly infinite darkness of Gohan's subconscious. There were no borders or walls to speak of. The ground might not have existed either, just the perception of a hard surface. She continued walking until she reached an odd anomaly in the atmosphere. At first it looked like leaking gas and simple to avoid, but armed with her clan's knowledge of the human psyche she stopped and observed the area.

"An entire week filled with darkness. Either you're completely insane or you were unconscious for quite awhile," she said, "and you're leaking memory."

A wind swept through the area with the ferocity of a oceanic storm. Ino was barely able to keep her footing as she covered herself with her arms. A blaze of green light emerged from a far off horizon, its size rising to the height of mountains. The light condensed and formed into an unclear, humanoid figure. It emitted a wicked laugh that paralyzed Ino.

"Cell!"

She turned around. A golden aura of blinding intensity sprang at her, warmth overtaking her entire body like the first appearance of the Summer Sun. The aura reached for Ino, who recoiled and prepared to leave the unstable psyche.

"Here, I'll protect you," the aura said.

The glow dissipated, revealing an outstretched hand.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of Cell," he said.

Confusion etched into Ino's thoughts. There was supposed to be no consciousness in this region of the psyche. The images could be mental defenses set up by the individual, but such defenses usually involved complex mazes and barriers. This was a materialization of conflict within his mind, and it was extremely dangerous for Ino to be there. She had to get out.

"Man, what's taking those two so long," Chouji said.

He watched the open area with eyes like a hawk. The trees hadn't so much as moved in the wind, and any indication of life in the forest was shrouded in the heat of the day.

Chouji could feel his armor sticking to his skin as if they were two edges of a zipper. He tugged at the collar of his vest and released steam that had collected between the flaps and folds of his armor and fat. Two blurs suddenly appeared from the forest and charged him like fleshless phantoms.

"Wha–!" Chouji yelled.

"Got you, fatty!" screamed the shinobi as he thrust a kunai into Chouji's chest.

Before Chouji could react the second attacker sprang behind him and lodged another kunai deep into his spine. His body exploded in a cloud of smoke, dazing and confusing his attackers. They had stabbed their kunais deep into a log that had substituted itself for Chouji's body.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu?" asked one of the shinobi.

Two massive hands erupted from the ground, throwing chunks of dirt and rock into the air. The hands were like geysers, engulfing the two shinobi in their grasp. Chouji popped his head out of the ground and smirked at his attackers.

"My turn!" Chouji screamed as he slammed his foes into each other like mosquitoes.

The two shinobi smashed into each other and instantly liquified into a misty water.

"Water clones?" Chouji said.

He jumped out of the ground and landed in front of the hole he ascended from. A cloud of dust surrounded him as clumps of dirt fell from the sky like hail. The real shinobi attackers casually walked from out of the trees. Their faces were covered with metal masks, and their head protectors scratched into oblivion. Chouji noticed one of them covered with a thick, green armor which made him almost look like a turtle. The other was covered in belts that had blades sticking out of them like razor spikes. They stopped well short of Chouji's position.

"Impressive, hiding yourself like that. Takes a lot of discipline to sit still underground," said the one with the spikes.

"If only he could apply that discipline at the dinner table, ey Sakana?" replied the other.

"Who are you?" Chouji asked.

"The owners of Saito village. If you know what's good for you, Kohona shinobi, you'll leave now," Sakana said.

Chouji smiled. He launched his massive fists at the two shinobi. Sakana dodged and jumped behind his ally.

"Do it, Kame!" the shinobi roared.

Kame recoiled into his armor like a frightened tortoise as Chouji's fist smashed into him. Sakana grabbed onto his partner and anchored his feet into the ground. Chouji tried pushing, but they remained firm in their position. Kame sprang forth from his armor and grabbed Chouji's massive hand with all four of his limbs like a bear trap. Sakana jumped over Kame and landed on Chouji's arm. He grabbed two kunai from his pouch and stabbed it into Chouji's flesh. Chouji roared with pain as Sakana ran on top of his arm, dragging along the kunais still lodged in. Chouji released his jutsu, causing Sakana to fall to the ground like an agile cat.

His arm was ravaged and unresponsive. Chouji held it up with his other arm, but there was no time to bandage it up. Sakana raced at him with the same pair of kunai, ready to tear into his body, when the action abruptly stopped.

"The numbers are even now," Shikamaru said. He stood at the side of the battle, his shadow intertwined with the enemies.

"About time, I was wondering how long it'd take you to notice," Chouji replied.

Chouji grabbed white cloth from his pouch and quickly wrapped it around his wounds, tightening the bandage with his teeth. Sakana and Kame were frozen in their shadows, immobile and still like the trees behind them.

"What kind of jutsu is this?" Sakana asked curiously.

"Kagemane no jutsu. I have full control of your bodies now," Shikamaru revealed.

He was kneeling with his hands clasped together, holding the two shinobi as still as possible.

"Interesting," Sakana said casually, "you've got us cornered all right."

"Chouji, you ok?" Shikamaru asked, ignoring Sakana.

"Yeah, it's nothing much," he said as blood poured out of his wounds.

"To think," Sakana said, as if Shikamaru hadn't deliberately disregarded him, "the poor peasants in this village could hire such efficient shinobi such as yourselves."

"Oh?" Shikamaru replied, "and why are such well spoken shinobi such as _yourselves_ resorting to common thievery?"

Sakana smirked.

"Thievery? If you really think that's our agenda then your country is really in for a surprise," he said.

"There were reports of bandits roaming around this area," Shikamaru continued, "but Konoha had no idea shinobi were involved."

_Keep it up, Shikamaru._ Chouji thought, _stalling for time until I heal up. That's why you're the leader._

"In fact," Shikamaru continued, hoping that Chouji would understand by now, "we had no intention of even _finding_ the bandits."

"What?" Sakana asked. A look of worry crossed his face.

"It's true. We were never hired by any villagers to take care of bandits. Our mission had nothing to do with Saito Village, or with you," Shikamaru said, "I guess you just outed yourself."

"So," Sakana replied, his posture relaxing, "if we would have kept silent, you would have simply gone away?"

"That's right," Shikamaru said.

"Then what provoked you into killing our men?" he asked.

"Konoha shinobi aren't heartless. Your men attacked a young girl and her grandmother, so we intervened. If you were able to maintain discipline in your own ranks, you would have gone unnoticed."

Sakana chuckled slowly, then burst into tremendous laughter.

"All right, Konoha shinobi, all right," Sakana said after he stopped laughing, "we will definitely take your advice and keep our men in line in the future."

_Come on Chouji, aren't you ready yet?_ Shikmaru thought.

"I'm sure our conversation has given your plump friend there enough time to heal up, but it's also given us a bit of time as well," Sakana revealed.

A shadow appeared behind Shikmaru. It was Kame, but he was no longer wearing the massive, shell-armor. _How'd he get out of Kagemane_? Shikamaru thought. He swung his kunai at Shikamaru, who barely managed to dodge but forced him to release the binding jutsu. Sakana felt his body relax from the released jutsu and turned his attention to Chouji.

"Konoha-Ryū Taijutsu: Nikudan Sensh!"

An enormous mass of rotating death drove at Sakana like an avalanche of flesh and bone.

"Sakana Kyouen no jutsu!" roared Sakana._

Ino felt her body resting on the warm, mud wall of the shack. She stood up and stroked her hair with her fingers. Each strand was smooth and soft, feminine and so very unlike that of a man's. She sighed and looked at Gohan. He was still unconscious.

"Looks like you might have more information we'll need," she said to Gohan as if he could hear her, "but, orders are for us to bring you in as a _willing_ source, so I guess these ropes will have to go."

Ino took out a kunai and walked over to Gohan. She leaned down to him and placed the edge on the rope. She stopped. Her eyes traveled from the rope, up past his chest, and to his face. The boy was surprisingly handsome for someone who looked like he lived in the wild. His black hair dropped at his forehead, slightly covering his right eye. A thought came to her like an epiphany from the gods, one that she tried to forcefully wipe away but could not. He looked like Sasuke.

The helpless feeling came back to her for a second, but was immediately killed like a parasite in her boiling rage. She cut the rope, disregarding how close the kunai came to slicing Gohan's stomach.

"Wake up–"

Gohan's fist smashed into Ino's face, sending her soaring through the shack like a leaf caught in the breeze.


	3. Chapt 3: Team Shikamaru

Chapter 3: Team Shikamaru

Ino wiped sweat and dust off her cheek. Her body had erected a small crater in the wall, showering her with spider web and soot. Pain pulsated through her face like cold white noise. She blinked, unable to focus her vision correctly.

"I've never hit a girl before," Gohan said, panting slightly, "sorry, Mom."

Ino placed her hand on the wall, propping and lifting herself up like a crippled swan. Gohan felt a monstrous cyst of shame catalyzing in the pit of his stomach. He was just so angry at those people for not listening to him. Then the images of that battlefield flooded his head. His father's voice echoed in his skull like a phantom scream in an empty amphitheater. Anger had consumed him again, remorse washing over his body like an unholy baptism.

"I'm sorry–"

Ino sprang from the wall like a grasshopper from hell. She clenched a pair of spiked, metal knuckles in her hands, weapons that had been hidden from Gohan. She was fast. He could just barely shield his face with his arms before the hard spikes gouged into him.

The spikes lodged into Gohan's arm, numbing his flesh. Ino launched her free hand into his stomach, which he narrowly avoided by leaping backwards. His arm was dripping blood but it lacked any serious damage that he could tell. He examined the spiked knuckles quickly. The metal was dulling, which he immediately deciphered as being composed of a soft material. The spikes were barely an inch long, which told him they were tools of intimidation rather than practical weapons. She must have been desperate.

"I'm sorry I hit you," Gohan continued, as if his bloodletting had been a minor interruption, "I let my anger get the best of me."

"You're _sorry?_" Ino asked, her face contorting with indignation and rage, "_never_ take a shinobi lightly. Never apologize in a fight."

Gohan's heart was in a frenzy as it tried constricting and expanding at the same time. Her face was terrifying, like a mix between an insane Frieza and his mother discovering he had skipped his homework. The spiked knuckles had nothing on her expression.

Ino launched another attack while Gohan stood around looking thunder-struck. She threw another punch that again missed its target. He was incredibly fast. She kicked at his legs, hoping to sweep him off his feet. He back flipped away from the attack, sending his heels over his head and trying to send his momentum into her chin. Ino slid backwards, narrowly avoiding his feet. She was panting heavily. The trip into his mind had depleted her of most of her chakra. At this point she could only match Gohan with fatigued taijutsu. If the fighting continued, she would have to resort to stalling him until her teammates realized what was happening. What the hell could be distracting them when there was a battle going on in a tiny shack ten feet away?

The blood was flowing into Gohan's head now. His battle-hardened muscles began to twitch on their own. His breath slowed and steadied itself for sudden bursts of speed and energy usage. He could feel his lungs relax and increase in elasticity. His vision was clear. The adrenaline guided him like a heat-seeking missile.

He looked into her eyes. They were intense and shifting from light blue to an intense turquoise. The changes in his body may very well have been occurring in hers as well. She looked back at him. The intensity between the two warriors electrified the stagnant air. A single spark could ignite the entire atmosphere. Gohan launched forward. Ino bolted at him. Both had their arms cocked back, their aim true. They rushed head long, intending to end the standoff with a mighty blow–Gohan tripped. His ankles were still too weak from his captivity. He stumbled forward towards Ino. She maintained her previous speed, but now a look of confusion spread across her face. Gohan looked as if he were maneuvering on rocks in a pond. He fell forward and felt the soft, warm embrace of the floor. It became black. Gohan could feel his face being supported. The sensation was utterly bewildering. It wasn't cold or hard at all, as if it were made of a spongy material that seemed to retain heat, and it had a _heartbeat._

Ino froze. She looked down at her breasts, which were being occupied by Gohan's face. Her eye twitched slightly, and a demonic frown formed at her lips. Gohan suddenly realized this wasn't the floor that his face had planted into.

"Pervert!" Ino screamed.

She grabbed Gohan by his shirt, spun around quickly like a top, and threw him across the shack. Gohan flew towards the wall like a tomato-red arrow. He smashed through the wall, penetrating straight through and exiting into the outside world. The mud and wood splintered all around him, cutting and piercing his flesh, but the pain was numbed by his new found, eternal embarrassment.

He landed hard on the forest floor and felt the impact jolt through his body. The open sky became blurred and rocked back and forth. Ino breathed heavily. She felt a shot of satisfaction seeing him on the ground covered in rubble. The violation she felt was slightly soothed by his physical pain.

A face appeared above Gohan's field of vision, and he secretly hoped it was his mother come to wake him from a really awkward nightmare.

"Check it out, they've roughed themselves up for us," said the face, at least that's what Gohan imagined.

Panic revitalized Ino's adrenaline. A group of men surrounded Gohan, their expressions ranging from bemused to amusement. They all had sheathed swords at their waist, and all dressed in slightly worn clothing. Ino reached into her pouch and felt a single kunai left. There was no doubt in her mind about who these men were. They had the same feel to them as the ones from the forest.

"That makes it a hell of a lot easier to take them in then," said another of the men.

"Uh, wha –" Gohan started.

A foot struck Gohan in the face like a falling death log. He felt blood spurt out of his nose and the sounds of the world became fainter. Ino rushed the men, her kunai held firmly in her grasp. _Damnit, my chakra hasn't come close to recovering yet._ She thought.

Four of the bandits unsheathed their blades and lunged at her her. Ino jumped over a swinging blade and quickly ducked under another one. Flashes of sunlight and metallic danced in her eyes.

"Hey now, don't hurt her too bad!" screamed the one who had lifted Gohan onto his shoulder.

"Yeah yeah," said another, swinging his blade down onto Ino.

Ino dodged the blade and jabbed her elbow into his gut. He spat out a mixture of blood and spit and immediately doubled over. A couple of the other bandits laughed.

"She's a fighter! We'll have a _really_ good time with her," one of them said, displaying a grin that could make mud cringe.

Ino threw the kunai at him, penetrating firmly into his throat. He gasped for air but only filled his lungs with blood.

"Fools! Master said not to take the shinobi lightly!" screamed the one holding Gohan.

The remaining men darted at Ino, who was now unarmed. She smiled, knowing her chakra was depleted, and soon felt the blunt end of their swords repeatedly slam into her body. Dull pain, then darkness. _

"What was that?" Shikamaru asked suddenly.

He held Sakana still with his kagemane. Chouji knelt slightly behind Shikamaru, his face and body armor cut and slashed with bizarre, jagged wounds. Chouji swallowed the air as quickly as he could.

"Sounded like breaking wood," Chouji responded.

Kame had returned to his shell-armor, standing near his partner but slightly out of Shikamaru's range. Shikamaru looked at him, then at the shinobi caught in his jutsu. He couldn't tell if they were grinning or not because of the masks, but Shikamaru felt smugness emanating from them like sulfuric body odor.

"That's the sound of our underlings carrying off your friends," Sakana revealed.

Kame laughed as Shikamaru and Chouji both looked stunned. Their battle was a decoy, a distraction so that the enemy could sneak in from behind their lines. Shikamaru gritted his teeth at being outsmarted by the likes of these two.

"It's not like we could have ignored you, anyways. Right, Chouji?" he asked.

Chouji shook his head.

"By the way they fight," Chouji said, standing up, "and their techniques, they are probably Chunnin level."

"Smart kids," Sakana replied. He seemed at-home being restrained by Shikamaru's jutsu. "There's no way a couple kids could ever beat us."

"Because," interjected Kame, "Sakana and I compliment each others' fighting styles, perfectly."

"I know," Shikamaru said. Sakana raised his eyebrow slightly.

"You're purely an offensive shinobi, relying on heavy-hitting jutsu and possessing an arsenal of lethal one-hit techniques," Shikamaru revealed, his gaze indicting at Sakana.

He turned his gaze towards Kame, who looked pleased at this gesture.

"While you," Shikamaru said, "are focused completely on defense and support. You use yourself as a decoy for your partner to set up his powerful jutsu, and if we try to attack him you simply take his place and repel our attacks with that massive green armor."

"You are truly a worthy opponent, figuring out our specialties in the course of a single battle," Sakana said, "if only you had the power to back up that analytical prowess."

Shikamaru smiled. His chakra was drained. He turned and looked at Chouji. There was willingness in his eyes to continue, but Shikamaru knew that his friend was nearing his limit as well.

"I'll say it again," Sakana said, "a couple of kids are no match for the likes of us."

Shikamaru released kagemane. His shadow slithered back to him. Sakana's body relaxed, and he breathed a sigh of relief as his body returned to his control.

"Truly a pity," Sakana said.

Kame jumped in front of him, his turtle armor protecting the direct path between them and the Konoha shinobi.

"If you were older, wiser, and more experienced, perhaps this would have been more interesting."

Shikamaru's shadow returned to normal. The release weakened him and caused him to lose balance and wobble. Chouji placed Shikmaru's arm on his shoulder, grabbing hold of him before he fell.

"I agree," Shikamaru replied, wordlessly thanking Chouji.

Sakana and Kame watched them like suspicious vultures.

"An inexperienced chunnin and genin could never take shinobi like you two-on-two. The odds aren't in our favor. That is why Konoha shinobi work in teams," Shikamaru said.

Sakana scoffed. "We are well aware of your other teammate, the girl, yes?"

A moment of fear overcame Shikamaru. Could they have known all along?

"However," Sakana continued, unaware of Shikamaru's shifting emotions, "we knew she was an interrogation shinobi, and that she would be separated from the rest of you."

Shikamaru's inner turmoil calmed. He grinned to himself.

"We waited to feel her chakra decrease, as interrogation jutsu takes a massive amount of chakra to complete. It made it easier on us. Don't worry though, our men probably didn't kill her, they've been dying for some female _company._"

Kame laughed at Sakana's comment, the way a hyena laughed at a dead baby leopard.

"Then she's our number one priority after we deal with you," Shikamaru replied coolly.

He took his arm off Chouji's shoulder. Chouji nodded at him and began massaging his own arms and loosening up.

"I told you already," Sakana said, slightly amused, "the two of you have no chance of defeating us."

"Then let's even the odds," Shikamaru replied.

He placed his hands together, forming a tight hand seal. Sakana and Kame both twitched, amazed that they were still willing to fight.

"Before we beat you into a pulp," Shikmaru said, "I'll give you a brief history on our current Hokage, Godaime Tsunade-sama. During the Great Shinobi War, she became instrumental in introducing medical shinobi into the standard three team shinobi teams meant for combat and missions."

"Don't lecture us, boy. Everyone in the shinobi world know of the legendary Sannin," Kame spat.

"Then I'm surprised you haven't caught on yet, being such _superior_ shinobi and all. Just how many of us have you _accounted_ for."

Kame and Sakana both looked like they were comprehending Shikamaru's words intensely. After a moment, their eyes widened with the realization of Shikamaru's words. Kame turned back to Sakana, whose expression clearly indicated he had understood what was said.

"Sakana, there's another one–!"

A shadow appeared from the thicket of trees, flying above the battlefield as if an angel had descended from the Sun.

"Kame dodge!" Sakana yelled as he slid far away.

A flash of pink smashed into the ground that Kame had just been standing on. He jumped into the air, his eyes betraying his astonishment as the earth crumbled beneath the shinobi's fist like a stale cookie.

"Sakura now!" Shikamaru yelled.

Kame looked at Shikamaru, then quickly at the shinobi that had appeared. She popped into a cloud of white smoke. A shadow appeared above him.

"Hell yeah!" screamed Sakura from above the defenseless foe.

A tentacle-like extension grabbed Kame's leg and whipped him back down to Earth. It was kagemane. Kame watched in disbelief as the pink-haired shinobi followed his path of trajectory towards the earth, her fist extended as far back as she could manage.

"SakuMaru **Rendan!" Sakura and Shikamaru yelled together.**

Kame smashed into the earth from the combined force of Shikamaru's kagemane whip and Sakura's explosive punch. Green shrapnel punctured the area as the armor shattered like a porcelain doll. Dirt fell from the sky like rain as Sakura stood deep in the crater she had made with the shinobi's body.

"Kame!" Sakana yelled. His arm was shaking uncontrollably.

Sakura recoiled her fist from Kame's stomach. She looked at the shinobi. His eyes were frozen in a perpetual state of terror. She felt sad for him. It was the price they paid for the life they chose.

"Great timing, Sakura," Shikamaru said as he and Chouji trotted to her.

"Damnit, Shikamaru. I thought you'd never give the signal," Sakura replied as she focused on her two teammates.

"I couldn't risk revealing you until I knew we needed you," Shikamaru explained, "we'd have no chance if our medical shinobi got hurt."

"Right," Sakura said as she walked over to Chouji.

She placed her hand on his deepest, ugliest wound. A green light emitted from her palm, almost immediately alleviating the pain in that part of Chouji's body.

"Damn you!" screamed Sakana. "Sakana Kyouen no jutsu!"

Sakana spat out a dozen water projectiles from his mouth. They flew in the air like kunai, becoming distinct fish-like shapes. The mouths were filled with rows of sharp teeth.

"I'll tear you apart!" he roared.

Shikamaru reached into his pouch and threw a dozen kunai into the air. As the kunai floated in mid flight he formed hand signs that caused a dozen shadowy extensions to shoot from his main shadow, each tentacle grabbing a single kunai. He shot his hands forward, forcing the shadows to throw their weapons at the incoming missiles. The projectiles connected in midair, exploding with chakra-filled water and shrapnel. The explosions caused a temporary shroud that blinded each side to the other.

"Take another!" Sakana yelled, ""Sakana Kyouen no–"

A massive rotating orb of condensed man and chakra raced through the shroud and towards Sakana. He panicked and tried to avoid the attack, but found himself stuck to the ground. He looked down quickly and found his shadow had been grabbed again. It was too late. Chouji's mass of flesh impacted Sakana, striking him like a meteor. He launched into the air and was thrown into the forest, his body ricocheting and splintering on multiple trees.

Chouji stopped his momentum with his massive arms. He released his jutsu, returning his body back to normal proportions.

"Good work Chouji," Shikamaru said as he and Sakura appeared next to him.

Chouji smiled and turned slightly red.

"No problem, you guys did most of the work, I needed to contribute to," he said.

"We can celebrate our victory later," Sakura said, her eyes fixed on the shack, "our goal now is to rescue Ino-pig and complete our mission-objective. We won't have much sunlight left, we've got to move."

Shikamaru nodded._

Gohan heard voices from a far distance, but it was as if they came to him in echoes instead of a straight wave. He opened his eyes and found only a little source of light. His eyes would have to adjust as he were most likely inside somewhere and away from the Sun. The voices became clearer, and he could make out the taunting nature of the words.

"You're so pretty, will you be my girlfriend?" said a dirty man.

He grabbed a handful of Ino's blonde hair and inhaled it. Another man watched from the side with the face of an excited executioner. She was sitting under a torch with her hands and legs bound by rope. She was looking down, as if drugged or unconscious.

"Leave her alone!" Gohan yelled instinctively.

His sudden urge to protect her, to get her away from those sadistic men and out into the world directly conflicted with his desire to punch her in the head.

The two men looked over at Gohan like stunned deer.

"Oh, look who's up!" said the man who had been sniffing Ino. "Good, the master wants to see you."

"Sorry, but this show's not for you!" said the one hiding in the corner.

"It's not for _you_ either," the dirty one told the other.

He motioned him towards Gohan, who hesitantly obeyed. Gohan could see he was disappointed, and noticed a slight bloodlust appear in the man's face. The man grabbed Gohan by the rope across his chest and dragged him along the floor, away from Ino.

"Let me go!" Gohan yelled, his body burning with the desire to hurt them all, "leave her alone or you'll be sorry you were ever born!" The words echoed throughout the place.

"Shut up!" said the man dragging Gohan.

Gohan watched helplessly as Ino and the dirty man disappeared from his view. He couldn't stand to think what would happen to her.

The man watched as the two disappeared into the depths of the cave. Once he was sure they were gone, he returned his attention to the unconscious girl.

"Now then, where were we, pretty lady," the dirty old man asked.

He lifted her head slightly and stuck out his tongue. A sudden sharp heat entered his throat, suffocating him instantly. He grabbed his throat and tried coughing furiously, but only blood came out. Ino smiled at him with an almost genuine innocence. Within a few seconds the man had fallen to the ground, his body lifeless. Ino turned to her side and spat out the rest of the fire-tipped needles from her mouth. She had hidden them there when she allowed the bandits to capture her, feigning unconsciousness the whole time.

"All right, time to rescue that jerk," Ino said.

She snapped off the bindings easily, rubbing her wrists and ankles of the uncomfortable numbness. After a few moments, her hands fumbled through her pockets in search of something. A cold bottle was at the bottom of her leg pocket. Ino took it out and examined it.

"Chouji, let's hope your food pills aren't as gross as they make your breath smell."


	4. Chapt 4: The Glowing Spirit

Chapter 4: The Glowing Spirit

Shikamaru lead the other two through the treetops. His eyes were fixated on the mountain in the distance.

"Where are we going?" asked Sakura.

"Following Ino's trail," Shikamaru replied.

Sakura hadn't seen any trail on the ground or in the treetops. There was no signs indicating the direction they had gone. She looked down at the forest floor. There wasn't anything noticeably different for a standard forest, just the typical green shrubbery. She looked back at Shikamaru. He hadn't changed their course, and was actually moving faster now.

"Where's the trail?" Sakura asked.

"After we split up," Chouji interjected, "I gave Shikamaru and Ino food pills from my own supplies."

A discreetly pleased grin crossed Chouji's face. Sakura raised her eyebrow.

"Ino ate some," Shikamaru said, still focused on the path ahead, "and we're now following her scent."

"I can't smell a thing!" Sakura revealed. She sniffed the air deeply, and felt a powerful musk enter her nose. The olfactories in her head felt like bursting. Her throat almost closed off, causing a slight gagging sensation.

"Those pills give a shinobi fierce gas," Chouji said grinning from ear to ear.

Sakura pinched her nostrils with her hand.

"My goodness," she said in a baseless voice, "it smells like rotten meat. Ino-pig must be throwing a fit right now!"

Sakura laughed at the image of her rival fanning away the flatulence._

"Damnit, Chouji!" Ino whispered.

Her stomach rumbled, threatening to release a potent cocktail of heat and gas. She opened the bottle and emptied the contents onto her palm.. A tiny black pill rolled out of the bottle and rested in the groove of her hand. It looked like it had come out of the back end of a rat.

Ino pinched her nose, closed her eyes and tossed the pill into her mouth. The effects were instantaneous. Her muscles enlarged with a massive influx of chakra. Her bones felt solid in their foundations and she could feel the soreness in her body evaporate. She placed her hands together, and could feel chakra rushing to her fingers.

"Amazing," she said, "why doesn't the entire village use these?"

As if to answer her question, a low rumbling reverberated from the depths of her bowels. Her stomach ballooned to the size of a melon. Her cheeks grew and drooped down to her chin. She could feel her arms and legs become warmer and heavier.

A deep despair constricted Ino's heart. She grabbed for the dead bandit's katana and unsheathed it from its holster. She directed the blade toward the torch so she could get as much of her reflection as possible.

"Oh no!" she screamed.

She had gained enough weight to stuff an entire wolf pack. Footsteps rushed across the ground outside of the room. Torch lights shone bright from the end of the natural corridor. The flickering lights grew larger and larger until three men were upon Ino.

"Nou keep the prisoner quiet–"

The bandit's eyes caught sight of the lifeless body inches away from Ino. His hand made a move towards the katana on his waist as Ino turned towards him. Thick, blonde hair concealed her eyes. A stale, flat smile lifted her lips up in an almost demonic demeanor.

"Good,"she muttered, "I'll use all this extra chakra on you."

"How'd you get so fat?" scoffed the bandit.

The earth shook with a tremendous force. A wave of unseen energy emitted from Ino like a cataclysmic shock wave. The overflowing chakra lifted her onto her feet. Already the fat reserves began to decrease, making Ino look like a deflating balloon.

The three men clumsily drew their blades. She lifted her head to meet their gaze. The blue shade of her pupils were electrified and her face contorted with a destructive urge.

"What... did... you... say?" she asked in the calmest, deadliest tone the bandits had ever heard._

The bandit released his grip from the crude ropes. Gohan groaned from the scratches on his knees and shins.

"Master, the boy is here," the bandit said, bowing like a one legged goose.

Gohan looked in the direction the bandit was talking towards. A single man stood before them, his body convulsing slightly and his eyes resembling that of an overgrown frog. The man wore tattered clothing, much more worse for the wear compared to the other bandits. His feet were covered with a dark material, and his right hand was bandaged.

"You, you're the villager from before," Gohan said.

The villager refused to look at Gohan. He stood patiently beside the unlit area of the cave room, his shaking becoming more and more extreme as the seconds past.

"Is he the one?"

Gohan's body stiffened. The voice didn't belong to either of the two men present. It had come from the shadows, just behind the villager. _Why couldn't I sense him?_ Gohan thought. An idea suddenly smacked him with the weight of a mental club. The wish had taken away _all_ of his powers, even the mundane skills he had developed in his training.

"Y..yes. He's the one the shinobi found a..and questioned," replied the villager.

It was obvious that this man was not here on his own accord.

"But he's so young, why would any of the nations allow such a young jinchuuriki to wander without supervision?"

Something emerged from the shadows, the source of the voice. At first Gohan thought it was some sort of statue, colossal and sentient. Then, when the light touched the surface of the thing, he could see it was no statue, but a massive man dressed in thick, blue armor. His face was covered with a metal mask, and two large broadswords dangled from his back. Jagged armored gloves covered his hands like claws and a cloak that looked as heavy as the actual armor swung around his neck, falling down the entirety of his body, and trailing on several feet behind him. A rectangular piece of metal had been screwed into his forehead. The headpiece had four parallel marks on it and a single, continuous slash across the entire surface.

"What do you want with me?" Gohan asked.

Gohan tried standing up, but the bandit's hand forced him back down. The man ignored Gohan.

"Don't you have a funeral to arrange? You are excused," the massive man said.

"Yes, my mother's," the villager replied, his face bogged down by an invisible weight.

The armored man waved him and the underling away. The villager bowed, then disappeared into the cave. Gohan continued to stare after him. Had that old woman in the forest really been his mother?

"So, this is the _Glowing_ Spirit? How disappointing," the man said.

Gohan shifted his attention back to the gigantic man.

"Glowing spirit?" Gohan asked.

The man flicked his hand, releasing a black flash that shot towards Gohan. The ropes that bound him slipped off like the falling autumn leaves, reduced to a mass of twine. A single kunai lay firmly embedded into the ground near his hand.

"A tired old legend around these parts," the man said, "about a glowing ghost that wanders the forest. It is said that the ghost assists the righteous and punishes the wicked. Supposedly it's the soul of an ancient warrior, forever bound to the world by his duty."

"What the HELL does this have to do with me?" Gohan asked indignantly.

"Nothing, I imagine. It's just an old tale told by ignorant rural folk who don't understand the world. Or so I believed."

Though Gohan was now free and unrestrained, he could not help but listen to his captor's story, as if enchanted by the tale like a child.

"About a month ago there was a massive explosion just around this mountain. The damage was, simply put, frightening. The villagers, in their infinite ignorance_, _believed it was the Glowing Spirit. Both terrified and so very full of doubt, they sought assistance. _I_ was that assistance."

"So, you're the leader of the bandits I keep getting confused for?" Gohan asked, both annoyed and somewhat relieved, "Good, you can tell everyone I'm not one of yours so I can be on my way."

Gohan stood up and began to walk away from the man. The air shifted around him. He could feel the atmosphere grow heavy, as if gravity had become denser.

"You aren't going to stay for the rest of my story?" the man asked, his voice filled with a cold, murderous feeling.

Gohan turned back to the man. Suddenly it was as if the atmosphere had given way to an avalanche of gravity, crushing Gohan down onto his knees. He could barely lift his head up. The feeling was overwhelming, as if a thousand invisible arms were holding him down, trying to drag him to Hell.

"Now where was I? Ah yes, a month ago," he continued, "the villagers were aware of my presence in the forest, but I was nowhere near the mountain at the time, so I had no idea of the explosion, considering it was on the other side."

Gohan tried summoning all the strength he could to release him of the binding.

"I had some of my men search the area, and the information they returned to me was simply amazing. An area of the forest roughly the size of a lake had been reduced to nothingness. Just dirt and ash. This, I thought, was no natural disaster. No, it was the power of a bijuu."

"What does this have to do with me?" Gohan screamed, again. His frustration was peaking, anger leaked out of him like a poisonous fume.

"Patience, young one," the man replied, "let me continue the story, it involves the both of us. I set up my operations here, close to the mountains and near workers when I needed it."

"I completely disregarded the idea of the Glowing Spirit, focusing on finding the bijuu. Of course, something as large and powerful as a demon would be hard to hide. That is, unless it were spiritually bound to a much smaller body."

"I, don't know what a bijuu is," Gohan replied.

"Oh?" the man asked, "I don't believe you. About a week into our operations, my men started disappearing in the forest. The next week, one patrol would be wiped out, leaving only corpses and broken weapons. Another patrol, same fate. Each man's body was scorched by flame, their bones shattered. My men started to believe in the Glowing Spirit. They refused to go into the woods. So I went."

The man placed a hand on the mask that covered most of his face. Gohan watched as he tugged at it, and with a mighty pull ripped it away. The sight made Gohan want to vomit. His mouth was torn and rotted. Half his teeth were missing, and a large gash separated the skin of his jawline from the rest of his face.

"I found the Glowing Spirit, and this is what he gave me," he revealed. "the power of a bijuu is truly frightening, but what's even more frightening is containing that power in the body of a man, free to control that destructive force with the lifting of a finger!"

He pointed at Gohan.

"It was you, glowing a blazing white, walking in the forest like a mindless ghoul. You took one swing at me and put me to sleep for three days. That power, is incredible. I want it, I want to be your bijuu's jinchuuriki!"

Gohan had no idea what the man was saying, all he could think about was how to take control of his body, how to push this invisible force off of him.

"Now, Glowing Spirit," the man's voice became unstable and crazed, "give me your demon!"

Footsteps echoed through the chasm. Three men appeared from the darkness, all brandishing their swords.

"Master! Master!" one of them yelled.

Their master returned to the original, nonchalant posture he exhibited before the excitement of the bijuu had overtaken him.

"What is it?" he asked, somewhat annoyed.

"The kunoichi has escaped! She used some sort of spell on us and she vanished," he explained.

"What?" the man screamed, "seal the cave, don't let anyone out!"

The men continued to run at the two. One of them made a motion to sheath his blade, when suddenly he threw it at his own master. Gohan saw a glint of surprise in the man's eyes before he effortlessly caught the sword in mid flight, holding it firmly on the edge of the blade. Gohan and the man both noticed at the same time the hanging piece of paper on the handle.

"Exploding tag?"

The paper bomb ignited, sending a shock wave of heat and pressure throughout the cave. Instantly Gohan could feel his body being released from whatever it was that held him down. He grabbed the kunai lodged into the ground next to him and waited. The three men stopped next to Gohan, their attention fixed on the smoke that covered their master's body.

"Thanks," Gohan said.

"Shut up," the one who threw the katana said.

The smoke cleared, leaving a scratched but otherwise uninjured man in its wake.

"Mind control?" he said casually.

Gohan looked at the three men. Their eyes were fixed on their master, but they seemed clouded and unfocused.

"Mind, control?" Gohan repeated.

"It seems you're a gifted kunoichi, after all," the man said, "come out, there's no point trying to hide from me."

Gohan turned around and watched the unlit shadows of the cavern. A slim silhouette appeared into the torch light, her hands clasped together as if in prayer. He recognized her as the one from the shack, which put him even more on guard. Ino saw this immediately, and frowned.

"You idiot, I'm here to _save_ you," Ino said, as if Gohan's body language had offended her greatly, "don't look at me like that."

"You tied me up just like this guy, as far as I'm concerned you're both my enemies," Gohan replied.

One of the men began shaking his head, as if awakening from a stupor.

"Shit, you made me lose focus," Ino said.

She released more chakra into her hand seal. The man stopped shaking his head and relaxed.

"As I thought," the man said, watching the conversation with slight amusement, "Konoha's goal was to retrieve the jinchuuriki after all?"

"What's a jinchuuriki?" Gohan yelled. He could feel the anger return. He had no idea what was going on and no one would explain it to him.

"That's not your concern," Ino replied to the man, still maintaining her hand seal. She looked at the man's head protector for a moment, "Especially for a missing-nin of the Hidden Mist."

"I wonder," the man said, ignoring Ino, "if Konoha is trying to retrieve the jinchuuriki to bolster its own military might, or as a means to thwart Akatsuki? My own Kirigakure seems to be falling behind in the arms race."

"Akatsuki?" Ino asked, perplexed.

"It doesn't matter though," he said, "because you two aren't getting out of this cave alive. The only place your bijuu is headed is in my body."

"No one's stopping me from getting away from all the crazies in here," Gohan said, shooting a momentary glare at Ino. This hadn't gone unnoticed by Ino, who turned blood red, "And I don't know what a 'bijuu' is, but that's something I definitely _don't_ have."

"I beg to differ," the man replied, "a boy like you could never dream of injuring a jounin of the Mist like this."

The man pointed to his face and grinned. His remaining teeth was visible through the skin gap.

"And I must apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I am Goro, the last surviving Combat Shinobi. The last man you two will ever set eyes on."

Next Chapter, Chapter 5: The Last Combat Shinobi


	5. Chapt 5: The Last Combat Shinobi

Chapter 5: The Last Combat Shinobi

"Combat, shinobi?" Gohan asked.

Goro took a step towards Gohan. The three mind-controlled bandits stiffened.

"Yes," he replied.

He lunged into the air. Ino twitched her fingers, sending the three men after him. Clanging metal and shimmers of light echoed in the darkness above. Goro landed in front of Gohan. The three men fell behind him like dead weight. Ino cursed and released her hand seal. She formed a new set of seals in the span of seconds, placing her palms together after the final seal.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu!"

Goro's arms and legs snapped together as if invisible metal cables had bound him. Ino ran up to Gohan and grabbed his arm.

"Let's go, there's no way we can beat a jounin!" she said.

Gohan stared up at her.

"I'm not ready to trust you," Gohan replied coldly.

"I don't care!" Ino said, "And neither does he!"

She pointed back behind Gohan. He looked and saw Goro beginning to move his arms.

"We don't have time, let's _go_," Ino repeated.

Gohan looked back at Ino. Her eyes were soft and watery, deep like an ocean and soothing. He figured he could trust eyes like those.

"Alright," he said.

Ino took his hand and lifted him up.

"Come on!" she said.

They took off, leaving behind Goro as he struggled to lift his arms up.

"You can't run from a combat shinobi," Goro said casually as the two disappeared into the cave.

"Where are we going?" Gohan asked.

They ran through the large, natural tunnel. Torches mounted to the cave walls on either side were the only sources of illumination. Ino seemed to flicker in and out of existence each time they went from shadow to light.

"We have to find the exit," she replied, "I can't believe it turned into an A-rank so fast."

"A-ranked?" Gohan asked.

"Where the hell are you guys," Ino continued, ignoring Gohan.

"Wait a second, mam!" Gohan yelled.

He stopped running. Ino turned around and glared at him.

"I'm not moving another inch until you tell me what's going on!" Gohan said.

"Mam?" Ino asked, her tone deadly, "do I look like an old woman to you?"

Ino's face was contorted with a restrained rage, ironically making her look like an old woman.

"Well," Gohan replied awkwardly, "I don't know you're name. What else am I supposed to call you?"

The sound of footsteps bounced off the walls like breaking waves. Flickers of light appeared far off ahead in the tunnel. Ino grabbed Gohan and pushed him into a small opening in the wall, wedging her body into his in order to fit. Gohan hadn't broken a sweat so far, but Ino's soft, moist skin on his caused a deluge of salty water to leak out of his every pore. He was thankful for the absolute darkness.

"The sounds were coming from Master Goro's chambers!" yelled a voice.

Ino and Gohan listened carefully as the footsteps grew nearer. After a few moments, silhouettes of men dashed past them. Once Ino was sure they were gone, she turned her head and looked at Gohan. Their lips were suddenly only a hair's width apart. She could feel her breath intertwine with his. His deep, dark eyes gazed into hers, and she felt her body grow slightly numb.

Gohan noticed the unbearably awkward position they were in and turned away from her as fast as he could. The embarrassment Ino felt could have lit the entire cave.

"I'm Ino," she said quickly, preventing the inevitable introduction of the awkward silence.

"Right," Gohan replied a bit too hastily, "I'm Gohan. What do you want with me?"

Ino dragged herself out of the opening and back into the tunnel. She motioned for Gohan.

"We can talk while we move, let's go," she said.

Gohan pushed himself out and they sprinted on.

"My team and I are here to investigate unusual spiritual activity," Ino said as they continued to run.

"Your team? You mean the two other guys?" Gohan asked.

"There's four of us," Ino corrected. "We had two reasons for coming here. The first was to find out about a 'glowing spirit'."

"That's what that guy back there was talking about," Gohan said, "he thought I was the glowing whatever."

"Yeah?" Ino asked, as if Gohan had confirmed something.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied, "anyways. Our second reason was to gather information on an apparent explosion, one so big it could be seen from the capital city of the River Country."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Gohan asked.

Ino made a sudden turn to the left, which Gohan barely managed to follow.

"According to the villagers, a young man appeared at around the same time of the explosion. He came to the edge of the village and begged for food and help. His face was covered in blood," Ino said.

Gohan stared at Ino. She was running in front of him, but he could tell her expression was serious.

"The villagers were afraid and refused to help him. He turned back to the forest and disappeared," Ino said.

The mood around them grew thick and misty.

"That night, they say a glowing spirit was seen in the forest. It was the young man, but this time he was covered in a strange aura. The aura grabbed at the air around him like the hands of a hundred ghosts, or so the villagers explained" she said.

"Well that couldn't be me," Gohan replied, "I haven't been in this forest for more than a day."

"I have no idea what the specifics are," Ino said, "My superiors didn't even know the specifics of the mission. We all thought this was going to be a routine reconnaissance. If we had known there would be missing-nin and ghouls involved this mission would have been bumped up to A or even S-rank status and given to ANBU."

"I didn't understand anything you just said," Gohan replied. He made sure the annoyance he felt was clearly generated in his tone.

"Just bureaucratic stuff," Ino said. "Look, I don't know if you're this spirit or not, but I know what I saw in your head and it wasn't anything a normal person's subconscious should shelter."

"You were _in_ my head?" Gohan asked. He wondered at the power this girl possessed, and how _much_ she saw.

"Sorry, for information purposes," Ino said, not sounding sorry at all.

"I'm glad I punched you," Gohan replied coldly.

The system of tunnels was extensive. They had been running for at least a few minutes, yet it felt to Gohan as if they hadn't gotten anywhere.

"Do you know where we're going?" Gohan asked.

"There!" she replied.

The tunnel shrunk and lead to another expansive opening. This room was even larger than the previous. Gohan felt like the cavern could be used as a colossal stadium of some kind.

Ino stopped after they had run a few yards into the cavern. She peered over at the other side, as if searching for something specific.

"What are you looking for?" Gohan asked quietly.

"When those bandits brought us here they took us through a big entrance in the mountain," Ino said, "it was a tunnel like the one we were just in, and it lead to this exact place."

Gohan looked around the area. He could see dozens of tunnel openings, but they all looked alike to him.

"That's the one!" Ino exclaimed.

She pointed directly in front of her. Gohan strained his eyes and looked. The opening of the tunnel didn't seem any different from the others.

"How can you be sure?" Gohan asked.

"The light," Ino answered, "it's different from the lighting of the other tunnels. It's brighter and more natural."

"Yeah, you're right!" Gohan said. He was barely able to hold down his excitement.

"Come on!" she yelled at him.

They began to run towards the tunnel, when suddenly a huge explosion rocked the ground beneath them. A cloud of rocks and dust erupted from the cave floor, revealing a massive influx of water. The jet stream knocked Ino and Gohan off their feet.

The water condensed and became less intense, finally solidifying into a humanoid figure.

"Konoha shinobi were always so quick to run, that's why I enjoyed them the most," the figure said.

The texture of the water turned blue and solid, revealing the man that Gohan and Ino had been running from.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu?" Ino asked.

"A water clone? No no, I'm the real deal. I'm from the Houzuki clan, after all," Goro replied, "our specialty is water-body transformation."

"Great," Ino said sarcastically.

"What?" Gohan asked, confused as ever.

"Still playing the fool, I see?" Goro asked.

"No," Gohan replied, "I still don't know what's going on, and I still have no business with any of you."

"Hmph, very well," Goro said, "I prefer it this way."

Goro reached for the swords sheathed on his back. Ino wouldn't give him the chance to attack. She placed her hands together, then pointed her palms towards two large boulders that had blasted out of Goro's hole, each one on either side of him.

"Terekineshisu no jutsu!" she screamed.

The boulders lifted into the air and shot at Goro. They smashed into him with a tremendous force, causing his body to exploded into a torrent of water. The boulders landed where Goro once stood, sandwiched together from the impact of the collision.

Ino's breath grew more strained and her heart beat quickened. The pills were wearing off, and she knew it was a matter of time before her body ran out of chakra.

Gohan watched as the water crawled its way in front of the boulders, and like before, materialize into a man.

"Telekinesis, you definitely aren't an average kunoichi," Goro said as his body re-solidified.

"You're clan isn't the only one with tricks up their sleeves," Ino replied, "the Yamanaka are renowned for our ability to transfer chakra through the air, allowing us to control things as we see fit."

"Yamanaka clan?" Goro asked, "That explains your mental prowess, but–"

His hand grabbed for one of his swords and ripped it out from its holster. The blade shimmered even in the dimly lit cave. It was double-edged and thick, perfect for splitting apart large groups of prey in any direction.

"Brute strength will always conquer feeble intellect."

Goro disappeared and reappeared in front of Ino before she could finish a single breath. He slashed the blade down on her. She moved to the side, barely evading the attack. The edge was so sharp that it was as if the air itself had been sliced through, leaving a vacuum of emptiness. Goro recovered in an instant, lunging at Ino again who was in full retreat. He lifted his sword into the air, only an arm's length away from Ino, when a fist smashed into his jaw.

They stood there in a sort of bizarre pose, Gohan's knuckles firmly planted in Goro's scarred face, while Goro himself struggled to maintain a vertical posture. Gohan had put all his power into that punch, so why had Goro barely reacted? It was a helplessness he was unaccustomed to.

"Patience, jinchuuriki." The deadly calm in Goro's voice sent shivers down Ino's spine. "You're time will come."

Goro blasted his fist into Gohan's face, sending him through the air like an insect caught in a storm. The pain threatened to cleave Gohan's brain in two. Goro appeared directly in Gohan's trajectory, his speed was other-worldly.

"Just have a seat here!" Goro yelled.

He grabbed Gohan's head, causing Gohan's brain to shake violently within his own skull from the sudden deceleration, and threw him into the ground. The impact deafened Gohan to the sounds of the world, and blew out any flickers of light that it offered his eyes. He couldn't feel the heat of the pain anymore, and the coldness of the cave ground was beginning to disappear.

"Sleep, I will have you later," Goro said as Gohan lapsed into full unconsciousness.

"Get away from him!" Ino yelled.

She clasped her hands together and felt a sharp pain stab into her shoulder. She grabbed at it and bit her lip. The pain was unbearable but lasted only a second.

"Looks like your out of chakra," Goro said.

Ino looked up. The massive armored shinobi walked towards her slowly, like a lion casually descending on its injured meal.

"The body cannot give up what it no longer is able to give up, at least not without dying," he continued, "I can't believe how arrogant this younger generation is turning out to be."

"I remember when I joined Momochi Zabuza in order to kill the Mizukage. The damn child led us right into an ambush," Goro looked down at Ino, who watched him defiantly, "I feel like killing every one of you. Zabuza included."

"You're out of luck, we got him years ago."

Goro and Ino both looked towards the tunnel exit.

"Finally!" Ino shouted.

Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sakura were standing a short distance away from the action. Each shinobi had marks and scratches on their faces, their clothing torn like they had just gone through a forest of thorny bushes.

"Reinforcements?" Goro asked, "you got through the guards then?"

"No sweat," Shikamaru replied.

"Ino!" Chouji shouted.

Ino nodded her head in understanding and retreated from Goro, jumping far off to the side. Goro kept his eyes fixated on the newly arrived trio.

"All right, Shika-Saku-Cho formation!" said Shikamaru.

"Baika no Jutsu!"

Chouji's body ballooned, making his body appear like a miniature planet.

"Nikudan Sensha no jutsu!"

Chouji's limbs entered his expanded body, releasing a river of chakra from each limb opening. He rocketed towards Goro, propelled by the exhuming chakra streams. Goro jumped into the air right as Chouji blasted into his previous position.

"Kagemane no jutsu!"

Shadows extended through the dark caves and grabbed Goro's body like the tentacles of a kraken. Goro's body completely froze in mid air.

"Hell yeah!"

Sakura appeared above Goro, her arm cocked back as far as possible. She lunged her chakra-infused fist towards Goro's head.

"What?" Shikamaru shouted.

Goro's body had at the last moment moved, avoiding Sakura's surprise attack and incredible strength. They both landed back on the ground, with Sakura leaping back to Shikamaru. Chouji ran to Ino.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

She looked at Shikamaru. He was still maintaining kagemane, but his face was strained with thought.

"As I thought," Shikamaru said finally.

He released his jutsu, much to the surprise of Sakura, returning his shadow to its normal size.

"There's not enough light in this cave," he continued to explain, "kagemane's effectiveness level in such dim light makes it pointless to use."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked impatiently, "there's literally all the shadow you can use in here for your jutsu!"

Goro grabbed his other sword and slid it out, sending a screech of metal throughout the cave.

"With such coordination and techniques, I'll have to get serious," Goro said.

"Well, what's wrong with your jutsu?" Sakura repeated, returning her gaze to Goro.

"My jutsu is strengthened by shadows that are _caused_ by light sources. The shadows in here are an _absence_ of light. It's a subtle difference, but it's a difference nonetheless," he explained.

"All of you are taking me back to the old days," Goro said, "back to the war. I remember a trio who pulled off the same formation against my squad. Formidable as always, these Leaf shinobi."

"He's talking about our dads, isn't he?" Chouji asked Ino.

Ino nodded.

"Shikamaru, he's a combat shinobi!" Ino shouted across the cave.

Sakura and Shikamaru both looked at each other, their faces stricken with concern. Chouji looked confused.

"What's a combat shinobi, Ino?" Chouji asked.

"What's a combat shinobi?" Goro repeated, in a mocking but slighted tone.

"Do they teach you nothing these days?" he asked them.

"You'll have to excuse my friend," Shikamaru replied, his eyes still fixed on Goro, "he isn't too big on history. That's what you are, anyways, history."

Goro didn't disagree.

"A combat shinobi, boy," Goro said, now facing Chouji, "is a shinobi created specifically for the war zone, for the battlefield. We don't hide in the shadows and poison your drinks, we charge into the fray and swing away until we are satisfied that the enemy has lost enough blood and limbs for our liking. That is a combat shinobi."

"Your kind made the Third Shinobi World War into an uncivilized massacre," Sakura said with disgust, "no regard for life or suffering. No prisoners, no relief."

"Of course, child," Goro replied, "that is war. Your generation hasn't seen war before. You haven't _had_ to become what we had to."

"I agree," Shikamaru replied, placing his hands together, "but now in this age, there is no need for shinobi like you, all brawn and no finesse."

"Hey Shikamaru that sounds a lot like me!" Chouji shouted angrily. Shikamaru smiled.

"Combat shinobi use their chakra to maximize their physical defenses and to amplify their physical strength. They are essentially the opposite of medical shinobi," Shikamaru explained.

"The difference being," Sakura added, "is that combat shinobi know _no_ jutsu. Their philosophy is that if they have enough chakra for jutsu then they have enough chakra to increase their physical strength, at least that's what Tsunade-sama told me."

"Perhaps the younger generation isn't complete garbage like I thought," Goro said. "I'm impressed with your knowledge, but don't think that because I lack ninjutsu that I'll be an easy fight for you."

Goro crouched, as if readying to launch himself.

"That was the mistake of many a shinobi during the war. I don't think you want to end up like them–"

"Sakura move!" Shikamaru shouted.

They sprang to their sides, narrowing avoiding Goro's double-bladed attack. The swords smashed into the ground where Shikamaru and Sakura had just been standing on, sending a heavy mist of debris into the air.

"So fast!" Chouji shouted.

"Be careful his body turns into water!" Ino yelled.

Chouji stood up, leaving Ino kneeling on the cave floor. He placed his hands together when Goro turned his way.

"Not so fast, fatty!" he yelled.

Goro's cloak flew off him like it was possessed and torpedoed at Chouji. Ino watched in horror as the cloak enveloped him and smashed into the wall, nailing itself, along with Chouji inside of it, into the rocky side of the cave.

"Chouji!" Ino screamed.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Right!" she replied.

Sakura threw her pouch into the air, revealing dozens of kunai that floated in their own directions. Shikamaru tugged at the air, shooting the kunai directly at Goro.

"Wires?" Goro asked as they all darted at him with precision.

Goro parried the kunai with his swords, sending them harmlessly to the ground.

"Raiton! Kage Kaminari no jutsu!" Shikamaru shouted.

Electricity flowed through Shikamaru's hands and shot towards Goro through the near-invisible wires that had been connected to the kunais. Goro jumped away from the pile of kunai, just barely escaping from the heat of the shooting sparks.

"Too slow!" Goro yelled as he landed a safe distance away.

"Got you!"

Sakura appeared behind Goro and launched a massive punch directed at his back.

"Chouji, Chouji! Are you ok?" Ino yelled.

She grabbed at the blue cloak and tugged at it. The cloak had turned its edges into sharp hooks that buried themselves deep into the rock.

"Move," Chouji said in a muffled voice.

Ino backed away.

"Baika no jutsu!"

The cloak flew off of the wall as Chouji's body swelled into a great, round mass.

"Thank goodness," Ino said as she ran back to Chouji.

"Sakura!" Chouji screamed.

Ino turned around. Her face turned ghost white, and felt like her intestines had dropped to the ground.

"I believe, I was the one who got _you_," Goro said snidely.

Sakura stood in front of Goro, her arm still outstretched from her attempted punch. Blood spewed from her shoulder. Her skin was turning pale and a blue tint spread across her face.

Goro pulled his blade out of Sakura's shoulder, releasing even more blood than before. Sakura silently fell onto the cave ground, life draining from her with each passing second.

"Damnit," Shikamaru cursed.

He placed his hands together and formed various seals.

"No you don't!" Goro shouted.

He launched at Shikamaru, his sword held high. Goro reached Shikamaru in a matter of seconds and cleaved down on him.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!"

Chouji sandwiched Goro's blades in his massive hands. He stood directly between him and Shikamaru, who sighed a heavy relief.

"Perfect timing," Shikamaru said.

"No time to talk," Chouji replied as he was being pushed down into the ground, "this guy's too strong."

"I'm surprised a fatass like you can move so quick," Goro ridiculed as he continued to push down on the swords, "I won't underestimate you again."

"Sakura!" Ino said as she knelt beside her injured comrade.

Sakura continued to leak blood, and she looked about to pass out. Ino placed her palm across Sakura's wound and closed her eyes.

"Since you probably can't understand what I'm saying I'll just say it," Ino said, "I'm not as good as this as you are, but I'm your only shot, so you better be hoping I'm near your level."

"Shōsen no Jutsu!"

Ino's palm radiated with a greenish shade of chakra. Her body was almost completely drained of energy, but was given enough time with the arrival of her team to allow for some recovery. The chakra entered Sakura's wound, traveling through her bloodstream and entering each damaged cell like a breath of life. Slowly the paleness in Sakura's complexion was being replaced by healthy color.

"Think of something fast, Shikamaru!" Chouji shouted.

Goro continued to push down on Chouji. His legs were being driven into the ground as if the solid earth was composed of mud. Goro suddenly released his grip on the swords, stunning Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Fools," Goro said.

He punched Chouji so hard that he smashed into Shikamaru, sending both of them hurtling into the rocky wall.

"Shikamaru, Chouji!" Ino shouted.

The dust settled from the impact, revealing both Chouji and Shikamaru barely conscious and coughing up blood. The crater they had caused looked to have compromised the entire cave. She looked down at Sakura, who looked better than before but was still hemorrhaging from her wound.

Goro bent down and grabbed his swords. He stood back up and turned towards Ino.

"One more it seems," he said.

He started walking towards Ino, who stiffened like a frightened cat.

"Stay away!" she yelled at him

Goro continued his leisurely stroll towards the downed kunoichis, his face gnarled with wicked satisfaction._

_Where am I?_

_You are here._

_It's so bright, I can't see._

_It's ok you are here._

_ Where?_

_ Here._

_ Who are you?_

_ Me._

_ You're not making sense._

_ Aren't I, Gohan?_

_ How do you know my name?_

_ Because I am me. _

_ You're me?_

_ No, I am me, not you._

_ I hear someone screaming, who is it?_

_ Do you want to help her?_

_ Yes! I need to help her!_

_ Then use me._

_ How can I trust you?_

_ Because I am me. _

Ino clenched her fist, ready to defend Sakura and herself to the very end.

"Just die," Goro said softly.

An explosion of white light covered the entire cavern, blinding everything in it. Ino closed her eyes, but could still feel the intensity of the luminance through her eyelids.

"What?" Goro shouted as he covered his eyes with his arm.

The all encompassing light faded, revealing a single source of brilliance that could outshine a celestial body. Ino opened her eyes as the light's intensity decreased. She looked over at the source, and her jaw dropped.

"The Glowing Spirit!" Goro screamed with glee.

Gohan was standing up. His eyes were closed and his mouth drooped open like he was asleep. Pure white beams of chakra surrounded him like a forest of seaweed, swaying gently in the air.

"I'm ready for a rematch!" Goro yelled. His face was psychotic and his body began shaking violently from adrenaline.

The beams of light wrapped around Gohan's legs arms and body, enveloping him completely in the blazing glow. He opened his eyes, revealing eyes as black as coal.

"This ends now," Gohan whispered, his voice echoing throughout the entire world.

Next Chapter, Chapter 6: Unwanted Power


	6. Chapt 6: Unwanted Power

Chapter 6: Unwanted Power

"Brilliant," Goro whispered.

The white glow began to fade and absorb into Gohan's body. His eyes were like two obsidian gems that swallowed all surrounding light. The glow became fainter and fainter until it completely disappeared, leaving behind a silent, cold warrior.

Ino lifted Sakura's head and placed her green battle vest underneath. The material was composed of a thick fabric, but compared to the hard rocky floor of the cave it was like rabbit fur. She looked over at Gohan. His face was empty of emotion, and an aura emanated from his entire body that chilled her.

"So, you've released the bijuu inside of you?" Goro asked, "then there's no point in holding back anymore."

Goro pointed the tips of his swords towards his chest, and thrust them into his flesh. Metallic colored fluid bled out of his wounds. The liquid didn't flow down onto the blades, or drip onto the ground. Instead, the fluid spread across Goro's entire body like a slow mass of infectious cells.

Gohan remained still, watching as the fluid engulfed Goro. The liquid solidified, revealing a hard, metal exoskeleton that covered the already armored shinobi. He grabbed the hilts of his swords and ripped the blades out of his body. The wounds filled with the same metallic fluid and sealed the injuries completely.

"Demon steel," Goro explained, "a special mass of organisms that feed off there host's chakra. They protect and enhance their host's body while it still has chakra to give. This is my bijuu."

Goro dropped the swords from his hands. The moment the weapons hit the ground Goro vanished and reappeared behind his opponent. The demon steel formed his hand into a pointed spear which he lunged toward Gohan. A blinding light extended from Gohan's back like a parasitic worm and deflected the attack. Goro jumped away, barely avoiding the counterattack of the glowing tentacle. The tentacle smashed into the ground, shooting clumps of rock throughout the cavern. Goro jumped back from the impact, but the tentacle exploded from the ground like a sprouting tree and grabbed his leg.

"Not that easy!" Goro yelled.

The demon steel melted from Goro's leg, releasing him from the tentacle's grip. A mass of the demon steel formed at his hands and solidified into spears. Goro landed on the ground and threw the spears at Gohan. The spears moved through the air like thunderbolts. The glowing tentacle retracted back to Gohan and surrounded his body with a brilliant white dome. The spears bounced off the protective dome like toothpicks off a turtle shell. The barrier broke apart and formed into dozens of tentacles. Goro's face grew pale as the eel-like extensions lunged at him.

"Are you guys all right?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru lay motionless in Chouji's arms, tears running down the latter's face.

"Chouji!" Ino yelled.

Chouji snapped out of his self-pitying and stared at Ino. She couldn't believe how unwound he had become.

"Are you ok?" she asked again.

"Y-yeah, but Shikamaru," Chouji said.

He looked down at his friend and fresh tears rolled down his rosy, dirtied cheeks.

"Snap of it! We're still in this fight!" Ino scolded.

Chouji choked as he tried holding back his flailing emotions.

"Right," he said.

Ino looked over to the battlefield. Gohan was inside a globe of white light that had noodle-like appendages extending out from it. They shot at Goro as if they were sentient and out for blood.

"Take this," Chouji said.

Ino turned back to Chouji. He held out a small brown pill in his palm. His arm was shaking badly as blood drizzled down his elbow.

"No, you need it more than me," Ino began.

"There's no time, I can't move my body all that much," Chouji said bluntly, "chakra isn't going to fix my bones."

"Then I'll take it and heal you-"

"Stop it, Ino," Chouji interrupted, "use that chakra to run away."

"No way!" Ino said angrily, "I'm not going to leave anyone behind!"

"Look at those guys," Chouji responded.

Ino turned back. Goro continued to dodge the tentacles with ferocious speed. Her eyes strained to keep up with their movements.

"Those guys are monsters," Chouji continued, "both of them. There's no way you can heal all three of us and still have enough chakra to run. Go, and bring back help."

"Chouji!" Ino yelled. She understood the truth of his words, but she would refuse the logic of his argument until the very end.

"I'm not going to leave you!" she exclaimed

"Damn it Ino, I'm not going to let you die here for us when you have the chance to run! How would you feel if you were in our shoes?"

Ino clenched her jaw.

"When I see an opening, I'll take it. I'll end this fight, and rescue the hell out of all of you._

"Where am I?"

Gohan floated in darkness. His body felt compressed and cool, as if he were in a stagnant ocean. A faint glow appeared in the distance. It floated towards him slowly. At first it started off as a tiny blip in the horizon, but it grew in size as it neared him. Soon, the darkness was replaced by a blinding glow of emptiness, like sunlight reflecting off a snow-covered desert.

Images formed in front of him. An indistinguishable shape moved like a twitching hornet, leaping in all directions. The shape grew more focused as the area darkened again. The shape continued to focus until the unmistakable outline of a man appeared. It was that man, the one from the cave.

"Should we kill him now?"

The voice echoed all around him. It was soft like leaves falling in a pristine pond, yet powerful and undeniably present like the silent stars.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Gohan asked.

The white emptiness began to dissipate. The atmosphere grew dark again, only this time there were flickers of dim light. The vastness that had only a moment ago consumed Gohan was replaced by walls of brown stone. He was no longer floating, but standing on hard ground. His body felt solid again, but somehow out of his control. The sensation could only be described as dreamlike.

"Only a few people have ever caused me to retreat in my demon steel form," Goro said.

Gohan looked at Goro. Blood dripped down his arm from a shoulder wound. All around him flailed white-hot tentacles. _Move._ Gohan thought. _Move now._ He couldn't.

"Your bijuu is certainly powerful, I'm afraid after all my talk of extracting it," Goro said, "that I will end up being the fool."

_Let's kill him._

_ No!_

_ Why not?_

_ I don't want to kill anyone!_

_ Why not?_

_ Who are you?_

_ I am me._

_ I'm not going to kill anyone!_

_ Fine, then let's become one with him._

The tentacles reeled themselves high into the air and with a synchronized effort, lunged all at once at the wounded shinobi._

Gohan walked along the sandy bank of a stream. The sun was setting, but he could make out the shade of green that the trees were beginning to retain. The air was cool and a bit chilled, but the warmth he felt in his hand kept the cold out of his thoughts.

"What do you think the academy's going to be like, Aito?"

Gohan looked at the girl he was holding hands with. She had curly black hair and rosy cheeks. Her skin was of a dark complexion and her eyes were like two shimmering topazes.

"I don't know," Gohan said automatically, "we'll just have to wait and see."

"Do you think what your mother said was true about half the students failing out of it?" she asked.

Gohan tightened his grip on her hand. He looked at her and smiled.

"Don't worry, you'll definitely graduate," he said, "and if you don't, I promise to always protect your civilian butt."

She frowned and took her hand from his grip.

"I'm going to be the greatest kunoichi ever! I'm worried about _you._"

She pumped her fist into the air. Gohan smiled nervously._

"Come on Aito! Bet you can't keep up!"

Gohan struggled to keep his legs under him. The running was intense and he felt like no matter what he did he couldn't summon up the energy to keep going. His feet tripped on each other and he took a dive into the dirt. The other kids laughed as the girl stopped and went to pick him up.

"Keep going, Eri," said a deep voice.

Eri looked at Gohan, then at the towering figure. She grinned halfheartedly at him then continued the run.

"You're not meant to be a shinobi, Aito. You just don't have the chakra control that is naturally occurring in all shinobi," he said.

Gohan looked up at him, his eyes watery and his face filled with a disgruntled rage.

"I do! I do have it! I'm going to be a shinobi!" Gohan yelled.

His instructor frowned at him. Gohan could see the man's face mixed with pity and condescension. It reminded him of a very ugly painting Eri had drawn in the mud._

Gohan couldn't remember crying so hard in his life. The shame and embarrassment of that letter had consumed his ability to put on any semblance of indifference. He sat in his chair, staring at the ceiling as his vision became more blurry with every droplet of disappointment.

A knock came from his window. He knew who it was instantly and wiped his eyes. After a minute of chaotic grooming Gohan walked over to the window. He opened it and allowed Eri to sneak in.

Gohan walked back to his bed and dropped onto the soft fabric like a disposable corpse. Eri tread toward him carefully, fearful of popping any tiny bubble of Gohan's pride that hadn't already been massacred by the letter.

She sat next to Gohan and smiled harder than she ever had before.

"You look scary," Gohan said plain-faced.

"Heh, that's what everyone in our class says," Eri said.

"Not my class anymore," Gohan replied.

Fresh tears pooled into his sockets.

"Being a shinobi isn't going to be that great anyways. I hear it's nothing but work, missions all day and the pay is nothing to brag about," she said unconvincingly.

"Don't patronize me, Eri. It's going to be awesome and you know it," Gohan replied.

He sat up. Eri had an amused grin on her face. It wasn't pitying or malicious, but genuine in its joyful disposition. That's what Gohan liked about Eri. There was never anything fake about her.

"Anyways," Eri whispered, as if someone were listening to their conversation. She got closer to Gohan. "I hear the Jounin Council has been researching a special corps of shinobi for battle. There's no ninjutsu involved, and they are considering it to be Kirigakure's _secret_ weapon."

"How do you know?" Gohan asked. He managed to keep his hopes down as much as possible.

Eri rose herself up and smiled. One could mistake her sense of importance for that of the Mizukage's.

"Well, it pays to be top in your class," she said simply.

Gohan fell back on his bed. Eri noticed her mistake instantly and showed her deepest regret. He didn't care though. All he thought about was this new corps of shinobi that didn't use ninjutsu, and thus, had no use for chakra control. His imagination ran wild with the idea, until Eri's face appeared above his.

"What?" Gohan asked, somewhat defensively.

"Nothing, I, just missed you," Eri replied.

Her face turned plum red and confused Gohan to the point of annoyance.

"Quit messing around," Gohan said.

"I'm not _messing_ around," she replied.

Her face was inching closer to his. He could feel his heart beat like the wings of a humming bird as Eri closed her eyes. Before he could stop himself, before he could rationalize that she was his best friend, Gohan had grabbed Eri and pressed his lips to hers. The Universe exploded into a thousand shades of rainbow._

Gohan stood silently as the shinobi eyed him top to bottom. His body was beaten and sore, but incredibly durable, as if he were carved from granite. He was at least two heads taller than the man sizing him up, but the authority of the elder held Gohan in his place.

"What is your objective?" asked the man.

"To defend Kirigakure's way of life," Gohan responded.

"What is your destiny?" he asked.

"To die for the glory of the Mist," Gohan replied.

"What is your nature?" he asked.

"Chaotic and powerful like the oceans," Gohan said.

"What is your title?" the man asked.

"Combat Shinobi," Gohan said.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Hozuki Goro," Gohan replied._

He felt like vomiting inside of his thick helm. All the years of training didn't help calm his nerves. Gohan didn't care what anyone said, nothing could prepare a person for war except experience.

Surrounding him were veterans of the previous skirmishes. Their bodies were steady and attitudes stoic. Gohan wondered if this was a battle unit or a feudal meeting.

A figure walked into the room. The other shinobi stood up in recognition, but Gohan couldn't seem to gather strength in his legs.

"Is this everyone?" the commander asked.

"Yes, Commander Eri," said a man at her side.

She looked at Gohan, who was still sitting down. He was in utter shock. Her face was dirty and scratched and her uniform looked like it had been floss for a dragon, but she was absolutely stunning. Her childish cuteness had blossomed into total beauty, the difference between winter and spring.

Eri walked over to Gohan, her face stern. She grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up to his feet.

"Is that how you receive a superior officer, rookie?" she asked.

"S-sorry mam, won't happen again," Gohan stuttered.

Eri released her grip. Gohan had grown much taller than her since their childhood, but she still had a control over him that no one else seemed to have.

"All right people, here's the plan," she said.

After the briefing Gohan was summoned to Eri's tent. He was nervous and excited all at once. Her tent was larger than the other shinobi's tents, and had its own light source. Gohan cleared his throat, announcing his arrival.

"Come in," she said.

Gohan lifted the tent entrance and walked in. The tent walls were covered with maps of the area, along with positions of the enemy and of allies alike. Eri was sitting on her bed. She had taken her official uniform off, now only wearing a thick robe. Gohan began to sweat inside of his armor.

"Proper introductions are in order," Eri said, standing up. "You are the first Combat shinobi in my unit. Goro, isn't it? What can I expect from you?"

"My blade is yours to command, my armor is yours to dispose of. I am an engine of prosperity for my country and of destruction for my enemies," Gohan said, repeating the words hammered into his memory.

Eri laughed. Gohan was confused, and even a bit angry as she continued to laugh. Her laughter became stronger and stronger until it irked him to a boiling point.

"What's so funny?Err, commander?" Gohan asked.

"Hearing those words from soft, crybaby Aito, that's what's funny," Eri replied.

"What, how do you know?" Gohan asked, his anger vanishing like a ghost at sunrise, "my identity is supposed to be classified."

"You forget," Eri said, "that it pays to be at the top."

She approached Gohan slowly. Her robe began falling off her shoulder, which made him blush slightly under the thick steel.

"You've gotten so tall," she said softly.

She placed her hands on Gohan's helm, which they could barely reach, and lifted it off. Her scent entered his nose like a seductive mist, washing away the tension that kept his emotions in check.

"I've missed you these past 5 years," she said. Her eyes grew softer by the moment.

"You always miss me," Gohan replied sarcastically.

"So and?" she retorted.

Gohan took Eri by the waist and lifted her into his arms. Their lips met for the first time in half a decade._

"Looks like you're the only one still alive."

Gohan's arm was completely exposed, the armor covering it being blown off by the previous jutsu. His helm had flown off long ago, and he had only enough strength to wield a single sword. His enemies were ferocious and powerful, and outnumbered him three to one.

"Tsk, can you believe a shinobi that knows no jutsu actually exists?" the pale man asked insultingly.

"Don't underestimate him, Orochimaru. He was able to last this long," the white-haired shinobi responded.

"I'm a greater shinobi then you'll ever be!" Gohan yelled.

Orochimaru laughed. The shrill tone of the laughter sent shivers down Gohan's spine.

"A shinobi who doesn't master all ninjutsu is a worthless pawn. You are nothing more than a peasant with a knife," he mocked.

Gohan gripped his sword and charged the trio. His anger clouded his ability to think, neglecting the truth that he would be killed.

"He's coming!" yelled the blonde-haired kunoichi.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

Gohan stopped in his tracks. Mist covered the entire battlefield, reducing the visibility to zero. A figure appeared in front of him, grabbed his body, and dashed away from the enemy. Gohan felt silly being carried by the tiny figure.

"Eri, what are you doing?" Gohan asked.

"Idiot, you can't beat those three. They just wiped our your entire platoon and you're thinking about challenging them yourself? Control your damn pride," she scolded.

"Let me down!" Gohan retorted.

She released him and as soon as he touched the ground began sprinting alongside her. The mist was thick, but Gohan could see up ahead a dozen of his own comrades waiting for them.

"They're following us," Eri said as she looked back, "even in the mist they can track us. They aren't ordinary shinobi."

"Commander Eri, we'll provide cover fire!" yelled one of their men.

Eri nodded. She and Gohan jumped above the unit as they reached their line.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!"

The shinobi released a torrent of dragon-shaped water at the incoming enemy. The deluge cleared away the mist and washed away the trio from their pursuit.

"Damnit Jiraiya this is what happens when you charge blindly into an enemy's jutsu!" the blonde-haired kunoichi yelled as they were swept away into the forest._

"This war is pointless," Eri said as she slammed the table.

Gohan watched carefully as Eri and other officers discussed the catastrophe of their recent defeat.

"So much death, for what? Trees and gold, farmland and rivers?" she asked.

"But Commander, as long as we are given orders by the Mizukage, we are bound to this conflict," replied one of the shinobi.

"I know. But there hasn't been any attempt at negotiations, none! When we see the enemy, we attack. There's no opportunity for contact, what is the Mizukage and the Jounin Council thinking?" she asked.

"Still your tongue, Commander. Those words are borderline treason."

The congregation looked towards the entrance. Gohan knew the man instantly. He was the one in charge of his training, and the leader of the Jounin Council.

"This war is necessary for the preservation of Kirigakure, don't you agree, Hozuki Goro?"

Eri, along with the other officers, looked at Gohan. He stared at them for a second, then at the leader of the Jounin Council.

"The glory of Kirigakure is, and always will be, our top priority. It trumps even peace," Gohan replied.

He couldn't bare to look at Eri, her look of disappointment would break him.

"Anyways," the leader of the Jounin Council continued, "I have business with my former student."

He motioned for Gohan, who readily obliged to avoid the deadly vibes being sent by his lover.

They walked through a path into the forest. The main encampment was well fortified, but out in the forest lurked danger, and it didn't all come from enemy shinobi.

"Commander Eri has gotten too vocal with her anti-war rhetoric," he said simply.

"She has a fiery personality," Gohan said, a grin stretching across his face.

"That's why she has been deemed a liability by the Jounin Council," he said coldly.

Gohan stopped dead. His blood raced through his veins and his muscles stiffened.

"What does that mean?" he asked quietly.

His mentor continued to walk.

"It means what it means, and as a soldier you have no right to this information. However, as a former student I am giving you that privilege. So don't ask questions."

A blast like a volcanic eruption lit the encampment on fire. Gohan looked back and saw the flames high above the treeline and stretch across the horizon. He didn't think, he just ran.

The forest had been blown away from the explosion. Trees, boulders, animals and shinobi alike were strewn across the forest like dandelions in the wind. Gohan ran past his dead comrades, racing towards the only person he cared about. His heart was close to giving out.

He reached Eri's tent and when he saw the extent of the damage, fell to his knees. A crater as wide and as deep as a large pond formed at the center of where Eri's tent had been just minutes earlier. Soot and ash were still falling from the sky. The ground was scorched and had melted into a black glassy composition. No one could have survived such a devastating explosion, and Gohan knew it. His vision became blurry and shaky. His stomach gurgled like boiling milk. He opened his mouth and threw up. Fresh vomit lay where his entire world once stood._

Gohan stood in the middle of the road, his swords drawn. The carriage stopped just in front of him. His own countrymen stood before him not as friends but as enemies, as executioners. His mentor stepped out from the gold-laced carriage.

"Return to the battlefield, soldier. I have no more business with you," he ordered.

Gohan drew his blades up to his chest, and with a flash of Eri's face in his mind, lunged into his own flesh. Metallic, dark liquid poured from his chest like a gelatinous goo.

"You dare release your demon steel against me!" shouted his mentor.

"I swear," Gohan said, his voice calm and quiet, "that after I kill you, I will seek power. Power to destroy the village that destroyed my heart."

"Remember your oath, your promise, shinobi!" screamed his mentor.

"Promise!" Gohan yelled, his body erupting into a mass of demon steel and water. The sudden release of chakra blew away most of the guard shinobi. "My promise was never to Kirigakure! It was to Eri!"

He rushed at his teacher, as a tsunami of rage and despair._

Gohan blinked his eyes furiously. Goro stood in front of him, his chest bleeding out like a broken facet. A single glowing tentacle had pierced through his armor and into his chest. The other tentacles were mere inches away from stabbing into his body but had all stopped, suspended in the air as if time had been paused.

_What was that?_ Gohan thought. _Why did I see that man's memories?_

_I don't understand._ A voice responded.

_Why was I acting out his life?_ Gohan asked angrily.

_What do you mean? You are a warrior, no? Warriors who spill the blood of other warriors understand each other such that they can perceive the life of the other._ The voice explained.

_No, that's never happened before. I was literally him! That's not what happens!_ Gohan reasoned.

_That is my power, our power. One must understand the lives of those he destroys. _The voice replied.

_That's not a power I want! I don't want any of this! Go away! Whoever you are, whatever you are! Leave me alone! _ Gohan shouted in his mind.

_I don't think that's..._

"LEAVE!" Gohan roared.

The white dome surrounding him shattered like a mirror. The tentacle-like extensions were swept away as if they were composed of sand. Gohan wobbled on his legs, shaken from the sudden sputtering of energy. He fell to one knee and closed his eyes. His throat rebelled against his senses and threatened to release a stream of stomach fluid.

"It seems like you have some control over your bijuu," Goro said.

He was still bleeding from the wound Gohan had made, but the demon steel had already begun to repair it.

"I'm almost out of chakra, unfortunately," Goro commented, walking slowly towards, "if I don't rest, the demon steel will consume all of my life energy."

Gohan could barely balance himself and had trouble focusing on Goro. The energy drain was too much and too sudden, like losing a pint of blood all at once.

"I'm sorry fate was so unkind to you," Goro said as he reached Gohan, "you had to face a heartless man with a vendetta to settle."

He bent down and grabbed Gohan by the collar. His hand formed into a kunai-shaped edge and aimed at Gohan's chest.

"Once I pierce your heart, the bijuu will be free, and I will become its new host," Goro said.

"I'm sorry, about Eri," Gohan whispered.

Goro released Gohan and stumbled backwards. Gohan raised his head just enough to see his expression. The only way to describe the surprise in Goro's face was that of absolution.

"What, did you say?" Goro asked, his voice shaking slightly. He seemed human for the first time.

"I'm sorry," Gohan repeated, "that you couldn't protect Eri. I'm sorry that her death was the reason for your bitterness, for your demented desire for revenge."

"How do you know...how?" Goro asked. His arm was shaking dangerously, like an unstable sail.

Gohan smiled, his vision growing darker. His head drooped and Goro's voice grew fainter.

"HOW!" Goro roared.

Goro aimed the demon steeel kunai at Gohan's heart. He lunged forward when a massive force collided with his face, sending him into the rocky ceiling above. Gohan looked up before he blacked out and saw Ino panting, her fist covered in a green aura-like glow. She was fatter than before.

Next Chapter: To Konoha!


	7. Chapt 7: To Konoha

Chapter 7: To Konoha!

Goro bounced off the cave ceiling, his body ricocheting like a rubber ball, and smashed back into the ground below. Ino panted heavily as her body shrunk into her normal, thin figure. Chakra leaked from her skin like steam. Chunks of rock sprinkled from the roof of the cave.

Her vision began to blur and she could feel her knees buckling. The enemy lay perhaps ten feet away, unmoving but still struggling to survive. Strewn across the cavern floor were used shinobi weapons. A single kunai stuck out from the black sandy dirt, as if promoting itself to the barely conscious shinobi.

Goro coughed and gurgled a small pool of blood in his mouth. The sound pushed Ino towards the kunai. She stepped forward and reached for the knife, when a familiar hand landed on her shoulder.

"I don't think you need that," Shikamaru said.

A small bubble of blood popped above Goro's mouth like a miniature mushroom cloud. His throat convulsed up then down, as if he were trying to swallow the blood pouring from every ruptured vein in his neck. There were no final words spoken by the ancient shinobi.

"He's done for," Shikamaru said, "let's get the rest of the team."

Shikamaru placed Ino's arm across his shoulder and hoisted her up. She leaned on her captain and felt the warm embrace of the sandman overtake her.

"We can't rest yet, there are still bandits all over this cave system and we're too beat up to fight them all," he warned.

"I'm fine. I'm wide awake," Ino said through a deep yawn.

She turned back to look at Goro. His face was empty of any life.

"If you think about it too much, well, just don't think about it too much," Shikamaru said.

"I know," Ino replied, turning away.

Chouji was walking slowly towards his teammates. On his shoulders he carried Sakura, whose exhausted expression was a relief to Ino. She looked tired, but at least conscious.

"Are you two all right?" Shikamaru asked as the two duos reached one another.

"I was just going to ask you the same," Chouji said, slightly smiling.

Ino looked down at herself. She started the mission completely clothed in Konoha's standard tactical combat uniform, but now it looked like she had come with nothing but knee-high shorts and a purposefully ripped tank top. Shikamaru wore what looked like the stomach contents of a well human-fed shark.

"This whole mission was completely troublesome. Should have never listened to Asuma and taken it on," Shikarmaru said as he fingered the holes in his uniform.

"We almost died," Chouji replied.

"Nonsense, we had this from the beginning. Perfect execution by all of us," Ino scolded.

"Right, flawless victory huh Ino-pig?" a drowsy Sakura said.

"Not flawless, no. But we ended up with the best possible result anyone could have hoped for."

"Your official-sounding tone is troublesome, Ino," Shikamaru said.

"We're on a mission, we have to act professional while we're on the clock," she replied.

"Oh just shut it already," Sakura said.

A faint rustling came from the tunnel system they had just escaped. The sound started off like the soft beating of rain on a tin roof, but with each second stampeded into a boisterous symphony of footsteps.

"Enough talk, we haven't finished the mission yet," Shikmaru said, "extract the target and return to the campsite."

"What about the villagers? We can't leave them to the mercy of these immoral highwaymen!" Sakura protested.

"They'll be fine," Shikamaru replied, "villagers basically have no chance against a veteran shinobi, but with him out of the picture they'll make fast work of these bandits."

"Right, then time to extract the target," Ino said.

She took her arm off of Shikamaru and stepped toward Gohan. One step, and she could feel her knee being crushed by all of the gravity the planet could muster.

"Stop being so hasty, Ino. I've got him, the rest of you return to the campsite first," Shikamaru ordered.

"Right," Chouji said.

He walked up to Ino, who halfheartedly objected, and lifted her arm onto his shoulder. Shikamaru looked over his unit and a tinge of annoyance sprang on his face in the form of a smirk.

"You two are supposed to be training to become medical nin, so why are you the most injured? So troublesome."

"If you didn't notice, I was the one who took out the big jounin over there," Ino spat angrily.

Chouji lifted Ino off her feet and darted off towards the cave entrance. Shikamaru turned to Gohan and wiped his cheek of the stream of blood flowing from the top of his skull.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A billow of smoke exploded around Shikamaru. In the mist of the evaporating chakra stood a horse-sized elk with towering antlers.

"Shikamaru, why did you summon me to such a suffocating location? You know I dislike enclosed quarters," the elk said. Its voice was deep and powerful with a tone that resembled that of a wise chieftain.

"I know it's troublesome, Sanban, but I need you to carry some baggage for me."

"Very well, bring it here," the tall elk named Sanban replied.

Shikamaru placed his hands together and raised his shadow into a long mass. The shadow raced toward Gohan and latched itself onto his own shadow. Shikamaru moved Gohan like a puppet toward Sanban, who waited patiently for his load to place itself on his back.

"Your treatment of your own kind worries me, Shikamaru," he said unhelpfully.

"I have no other choice, a horde of criminals are almost at our throats and I have to deal with a deer that makes snide comments. It's troublesome to say the least."

"Hmph," Sanban replied.

The large elk took two steps toward the awkwardly standing Gohan and raised him onto his back with those high antlers.

"Is that better?" Sanban asked sarcastically.

"Yes, now let's move."

Shikamaru jumped onto Sanban's back and secured himself by gripping onto the antlers. Gohan rest securely behind him, strapped onto the elk's back by Shikamaru's shadow jutsu. Sanban shook his head repeatedly like a winding propeller, then rocketed to the cave entrance.

"How's your knee, Ino-pig?"

Ino sat beside a roaring campfire with flames that licked the air near her forehead. She stretched her leg back and forth. Her joints were still stiff and sore, but otherwise she felt fine.

"Nothing a bath couldn't fix, Big Head," she replied.

Sakura scowled.

"There's a really great spring a few feet into the bush with a nice waterfall."

Chouji appeared from the green shrubbery. His hair was drenched with pristine mountain water, but the rest of his body was dry and tan. He wore nothing but a small towel across his upper thigh area.

"Chouji, put some clothes on," Ino said, her face slightly covered with disgust.

"Quit looking at me!" he responded, suddenly aware that he was talking to two females.

Ino picked herself up as Chouji sprinted off toward his tent.

"That doesn't sound too bad, think I'll go for that bath. Big Head, would you mind using that forehead of yours to direct some sunlight at the waterfall? I'd prefer a warm bath," Ino said.

"I'm going to wait here for Shikamaru," Sakura replied, completely unaffected by Ino's slight, "besides, you'd probably enjoy that mudpit we passed on our way here more than a bath, piggy."

Ino shrugged and walked off toward the direction the half-naked and wet Chouji had come from.

"Are you sure this time?" asked Sanban.

"Yes, this is definitely the area we set up camp," Shikamaru replied.

"That's what you said about six miles in the opposite direction," the elk said dryly.

"Sorry, I know it's troublesome but my mind isn't as sharp when I'm starving and barely breathing."

"Quit being so dramatic, it's not the Shika way."

"Yeah, yeah."

Gohan stood silently in darkness. The only source of light was a tiny flickering flame from something like a candle off in the distance in front of him. The darkness was vast but stale, as if he were underground and away from any fresh air. There was no doubt about it, he was still in the cave.

"Hello?" he asked. It was merely a whisper, but in the silent atmosphere it echoed like the crashing of ocean waves.

The tiny flame in the distance approached him. Gohan was frozen, enchanted by the wicked flame as it drew closer. The flame danced and floated, terror-inspiring like a ghost. A sensation like long, bony fingers ran through Gohan's hair and down his spine, like Death itself had noticed his fear.

Then it was in his face. Inches from his eyes, the flame flickered. He saw a hand just below the candle, and connected to the hand was an arm. The arm extended into the darkness to a body. The body was large and muscular which ran all the way up to a head. Gohan stared into its face. It was a face he had seen recently. His expression was relaxed, not unnerving but neither comforting.

"So this is the form you give me now?"

"You're, Goro? Aren't you?" Gohan asked.

"Is that what it called itself?" Goro asked.

"Then you're not Goro?"

"I am whatever I am."

Gohan opened his eyes. The darkening sky raced across his vision as treetops made it hard for him to focus. He moved his arms. They were sore, but real.

"Are we almost there yet?"

"I think so, I can smell potato chips in the air."

Gohan sat up to see who was talking, which he immediately knew was a mistake. He caught a branch in the face and tiny thorns scratched all along his retinas. The world became blurry as trees became blobs of color.

"I'm blind!" he yelled.

Shikamaru turned around and saw that Gohan had waken up. Gohan became frantic and began to swing wildly into the air.

"Hey, HEY! Calm down!" Shikamaru yelled as Gohan flailed.

"My eyes! I'm blind!" Gohan screamed as he kicked at Sanban's back.

Shikamaru couldn't believe that Gohan could move under his shadow jutsu. Gohan grabbed at the ground and squeezed with all his might. He didn't understand why the ground was furry and soft.

"Ahhh! My back! Off you humans!" roared Sanban.

"Wait Sanba–"

Sanban dug his hooves into the ground and stopped all momentum. Shikamaru sighed as he and Gohan were thrown into the air like dolls being shot from a cannon.

"You better have an offering the next time you summon me, Shikamaru!" yelled Sanban as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Gohan flew through the air, unable to see the hard surface he would eventually impact.

Ino washed her long, golden hair in the waterfall. The water was refreshing, but cold. She controlled her chakra to maintain a tolerable core temperature as she splashed water onto her body. Droplets raced down her body, first rounding her breasts, then swerving past her waist and turning at her hips until they reached her thighs, where the forest pool swallowed them whole.

She looked at her reflection in the waterfall. Her body was developing into a beautiful woman, she could say that with no hint of condescension. But she knew her mind was stuck in the past, stunted by that boy who left her life suddenly.

A figure appeared behind her reflection in the waterfall. He was tall and skinny, but his body was toned. He had black hair that was sharp and stuck up like the peaks of a mountain range. He walked towards Ino. She watched in the waterfall as he got closer to her. She was naked, but didn't mind that _he_ was looking at her. He would notice how much she had blossomed into a woman, and maybe he would come back to be with her. Sasauke stopped. Ino watched in the waterfall as he smiled at her, a smile that could be shared between old friends or new lovers. She closed her eyes and felt her heart beating through her chest, as if it wanted to escape the prison that Sasuke had created.

Ino slapped the waterfall with all her might and opened her eyes. The image of Sasuke was gone, but now it was replaced by a small blob. The blob grew bigger by the millisecond and forced Ino to turn around.

Gohan smashed into what felt like a cool pool of water. He could feel water rush into his mouth at an unpleasant pace, causing him to lift his head out at a dizzying speed. His vision was still blurred which was exacerbated by the sudden introduction of water in his eyes, but he could distinctly make out a pinkish blob. The blob was human-like and stood in front of what appeared to be cascading liquid.

"Excuse me, can you help me–"

"AHHHHH! PERVERT!"

Ino screamed when Gohan crawled towards her like a hungry dog. Her leg, which was stiff before, suddenly found the mobility and power to swiftly send her foot into Gohan's face.

Gohan felt a dull, blunt pain in the side of his head as he went flying, yet again, into some water. Only this time he ended up skidding like a pebble, scraping his skin painfully.

"OWWWW!" he yelled in pain.

"What's going here!"

Sakura and Chouji raced from the campsite to Ino.

"Chouji divert your eyes!" Ino screamed.

Chouji, unaware of the situation, immediately looked down, which caused him to lose focus and sent his entire body flying into the mountain spring.

"Oh my god! Get away all of you!" Ino shouted as she ran for her clothes.

Sakura looked at Ino, who fled the scene like a guilty criminal, then at Gohan. Her blood boiled as she realized what had to have happened. He was peeking at Ino as she bathed. She walked over to Gohan, her face contorted in a demonic scowl and her fists clenched as hard as she could clench them.

Gohan's face pulsated with pain as he stood up. His vision was beginning to come back to him, but he was still unable to make out the pinkish blob of rage that approached him.

"Hey, can you help me?" he asked, unaware of his impending demise.

To be continued.

Next Chapter: To Konoha! Part 2


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